Tenth Street Red
by Astarpen
Summary: "When we're through telling our story, the aliens will all know what the first human Spectre really is."   She killed him because it wasn't his story to tell it was hers; one which it was about time she shared. This is the story of Earthborn Shepard.
1. Chapter 1: Little Weapon

**A/N: Tenth Street Reds will have a pairing eventually; currently I'm up for any pairing at this point so this one you can choose, if you don't it's slated for Liara/femShep. People do seem to like femShep/Miranda pairing, but this currently takes place in Mass Effect, before Shepard and Miranda meet. So if this is any good and if I feel like doing a sequel then I could always switch the pairing. Now for the warning, I got the idea for this fic while watching Now and Then, Here and There, a brilliant anime that I was watching. Half of you will probably Google that anime title and read a synopsis; the rest of you won't care. I don't really suggest that anyone go watch it because it has some pretty deep topics and it's **_**incredibly**_** dark and twisted and the content is adult, not for kiddies. That being said, I will be tackling a multitude of issues in this because quite frankly I can. Half of you probably won't like the content which is fine I'm not doing this to please anyone just to see if I could pull this off. This is the story of Earthborn Shepard's childhood and adolescent years before she escaped her life and joined the Alliance. This story will contain everything from drug use, to child soldiers, it will tackle real issues that we have in today's society but the media shies away from. Why? Because I can. If you want a happy story filled with unicorns and rainbows, this isn't the story for you and I please suggest that you read something else. Bad things will happen to my characters and since this is a childhood story you know what's going to happen, you just don't know how I'm going to get there.**

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Disclaimer: Bioware owns the Mass Effect, the little spawn that is Artemis Shepard and all other characters and situations are mine alone**

* * *

"_They told me it was you, but I didn't believe it. Shepard grew up and turned into a soldier." _

_She cocked her head looking at him, studying him carefully, he seemed familiar. "Have we met?" she asked._

"_Name's Finch. You probably don't remember me, but we ran together in the Tenth Street Reds." He shifted giving her an almost accusatory glare. "Maybe you don't remember it yourself, running in a gang. None of the vids mention it when they're talking about you" _

_She looked at him, "So I ran with the Reds. That's behind me now." It was a lie, she still had the brand to prove it. They served as a reminder of who she had been and how far she had come. She had been a soldier back then and she was a soldier now. It what was what she had grown up doing. It was the only thing she knew._

"_We're not trying to cause you trouble, Shepard. We just want a favour, for old times' sake." She stared at him, after what she had done, they had turned to her for help. "One of the Reds, Curt Weisman, got picked up by Turians. We'd like you to talk to the Turian guard in the bar and get Curt out."_

_She looked at him, debating inwardly to help him or not. No that chapter of her life was over. "My gang days are over, Finch. Get out of my way."_

_Finch smirked, as if he knew what she would do, as if he knew that she wouldn't be able to refuse him. "Suit yourself, Shepard. If you change your mind, he's over in Chora's Den. Take care of this and you'll never see me again. And Shepard...you might not run with the Reds anymore, but you really don't want us as your enemies."_

_She hated threats, and she would have killed him however he had was gun before she could have drawn her gun. She turned to Liara and Ashley, "Let's go," she said entering the club. _

"_What was that about?" Ashley asked. _

"_The ghosts of a past life," She replied, still lost in thought, still debating whether or not to help him. She only had two real options; she could help Finch and hope that they kept their end of the bargain that they stayed away from her. Or she could send the message clearly that she wanted nothing to do with them, and hope that they wouldn't retaliate; they had always been a rather petty group. "Come on let's go see this guard," she finally stated heading into Chora's Den. _

_Ashley opened her mouth to say something, possibly to inform her how this was probably not the best of ideas, but once she had gotten a proper look at her Commander's face, and she simply nodded. "Of course Commander," she finally said shutting her mouth. _

_She led them into Chora's Den, scanning the crowds until she saw a Turian in a guard outfit and walked over to him. He looked over at her, noticing that she was coming towards him. "Can I help you?"_

"_You've got a prisoner named Curt Weisman. I'd like that Prisoner freed." Her tone was polite, she needed this, the last thing she wanted was the Tenth Street Reds on her tail, Saren was enough of a headache without having her old gang on her ass. _

"_I'd like a lot of things, human. Desire forms the foundation of organized society. That said, the xenophobe will remain in Turian custody. This is not negotiable."_

_She frowned, "Why are you calling him a xenophobe?" she asked, this changed things. She couldn't let him go, she would have to take the lumps to go with it. _

"_The human acknowledged his affiliation with several anti-alien organizations. His crime specifically targeted Turians as a species. It was a hate crime, and it will be treated as such at his sentencing."_

_She nodded, "Thanks for the information. One of Weisman's friends was less than honest with me."_

"_I understand. Weisman was too well supplied to be acting alone," The Turian informed her. "Thank you for the information. We'll increase the guard on his cell."_

_She nodded, she would be forced to deal with the Reds by herself. She turned ready to head to the bar, when she saw Finch and mentally groaned, "Speak of the devil." _

"_I knew you'd rat us out, Shepard! Now it's payback time! When we're through telling our story, the aliens will all know what the first human Spectre really is." Finch said pointing at her._

_She frowned, and pulled out her side arm, pointing it at him, "No they won't." She pulled the trigger shooting him in the face. She wiped his blood away from her face and looked at the body on the floor. She glanced up, as paranoid as it sounded they were probably watching. She hoped that this particular act of violence had sent them the message she had wanted to convey. They should know what she would do to protect herself. They, after all, had created her. _

"_Impressive." She turned to the Turian Guard, "Perhaps the first human Spectre will not be a disappointment after all." She turned her head back to the body. "Goodbye, Spectre."_

_She nodded, as she watched Finch's blood pool around him, hopefully this would be the final chapter with the Reds. _

"_Are you okay Skipper?" _

_Shepard looked up at Ashley and Liara, before turning to the body again, "Yes I think I will be." She looked up, "Who needs a drink?" she asked her tone surprisingly light as she walked to an empty booth. _

"_We're still on duty Commander!" Ashley protested._

_Shepard looked at her, "I'm paying," she offered motioning for someone to get them drinks her eyes once again travelling to the body on the ground._

_Ashley seemed to accept this answer, and both she and Liara took a seat in front of Shepard who's eyes shifted to them and she let out a rare smile, it was forced of course but it was nice to see her attempting to make the effort._

_There was an uncomfortable silence as their drinks were served and they sipped at their drinks. "Your files were considerably sparse when it came to your childhood," Liara said attempting to break the silence. _

_Ashley winced and looked at her commanding officer who seemed engrossed in her drink. She was about to say something when Shepard finally looked up._

_Shepard looked at them, "My childhood?" she echoed. _

"_You don't have to tell us if you don't want to Skipper if it's personal," Ashley immediately interceded._

"_Personal? It's not personal. It's just...history," Shepard replied. "There are many beginnings, but I guess I'll start from the very beginning. From what I gather my mother, my real mother was a crack-whore who's probably dead. No one knows who my father was..."_

* * *

Hannah Shepard pointed to a picture of a child, "What about her?" she asked looking at the picture. She had gone through at least twenty pictures of children and each of them had been smiling, or at least doing something. But the child in this picture wasn't there was no smile, and she wasn't playing just sitting down staring into the camera. Her eyes were a pale bluish grey, and her auburn hair was tied into a loose pony-tail. It wasn't as if the child looked upset, or if there was a vacant look on her face. No it was as if the child were deep in thought, studying her surroundings or more specifically the person who had taken the picture. The result had been it was as if the child were staring right at the person who was viewing the picture, with an intense gaze.

The social worker looked at the picture that they were talking about and shivered slightly. He had been there when they had pulled the child out of the crack den, which had been a year ago. Never had he seen a child so severely malnourished, she had been several pounds underweight and considering that she had only been two at the time, well that had been the age given to one of the clear-headed druggies had given to the police officer. "Her name is Artemis; well that's what they called her, Artie for short. We found her in a crack den during a raid."

According to the reports she had been sitting in a pile of her own filth surrounded by garbage and porno magazines. Her body was covered in bug bites, rashes, and several small thin cuts which were probably from razor blades. She had been eating a discarded pizza chewing on the stale crusts, her small hands gripping the stale bread tightly. A female officer who had been there had immediately begun to fuss about the child, who simply ignored her until she attempted to take away the old crusts which she had been chewing on. It was only then the child showed some cognition and wailed fighting the woman until fresh food was brought to her.

The one thing that he had noticed was that despite the severe malnutrition the child was incredibly alert, and she was capable of answering simple questions. It wasn't until they finally interviewed the child were they able to finally able to make sure that her cognitive abilities were perfectly fine, she was just a quiet child, preferring to watch others than to actually take part. When they had finally brought her to the home after she had been checked out by a multitude of doctors, and it was clear that the child did not appreciate being prodded and poked by the paediatrician. She had watched the children play for hours before she had joined in. It wasn't soon after that she had begun to display rudimentary leadership skills when the urge struck her. Her quietness was soon chalked up to her either being shy or simply being too lazy to speak until it was absolutely necessary.

Hannah looked at the photo again holding her husband's hand, "And her parents?"

"From what we can gather her mother is dead, and no one knew who her father was. Artie has got no one. She's a good kid, quiet, observant, a bit lazy except when she's hungry. That's the only time she becomes lively, it was probably because they didn't feed her and she was left to her own devices. She was mainly left to fend for herself."

Hannah Shepard looked at child who would soon become her daughter, "Can we see her?" she asked.

The social worker nodded eagerly, most other perspective parents had been put off by Artemis's intense gaze and her lack of a friendly smile. "Of course you can she's probably playing with the other children, or watching the other children playing. Like I said she's a really good kid, intelligent. Might be a politician later, I've seen her stop fights between the other children and the other children seem too respect her enough to give her space, and to not bother her." The social worker buzzed really laying it on thick as they entered a large room with quite a few children, whose ages ranged from two to seven playing.

One child stood out from the rest of the children sitting on a big couch simply watching the other children play. Her pale grey eyes suddenly shifted from watching a younger boy place the toy blocks in his mouth, to focusing on the new entrants in the room. She stared at them with her rather intense gaze catching Hannah's eyes. The older woman held Artemis's gaze for a few moments before the child broke the gaze when another child, who had been running tripped on a misplaced block, his eyes welling up with tears.

Artemis finally slid off the couch and wandered over to the older boy, staring at him for a second before offering her hand, "Okay?" she asked gently patting him on the head, as if it were the most normal thing to do. She took a seat beside him, "Play?" she asked again reaching out and grabbing a discarded toy race car. The older boy immediately took the shiny toy from her, began to play with it. Artemis watched him for a second before returning her gaze to Hannah Shepard.

"She's got a kind heart," Hannah's husband commented looking at Artemis.

Hannah Shepard looked at the child, who held her gaze rarely blinking until the older boy who she had given the toy car to nudged her foot with the car. The child turned to the boy.

"You've got to play with me," he demanded.

Artemis pulled herself into a standing position, "No," came her simple reply as she finally as she once again turned to Hannah Shepard and began to walk towards her. It was clear that Artemis's curiosity had been peaked.

Hannah turned to the social worker, "Is she okay, mentally. I haven't heard her speak more than one word at a time."

The social worker nodded, "She's a quiet child," he repeated as Artemis finally made it to Hannah Shepard's leg and looked up at her.

There were a few short seconds and Artemis finally raised her hands, "Up," she commanded as if this was regular for her.

Hannah was almost taken aback by the force of the command and frowned slightly, "You have to say please."

The child continued to look up at her, a small flash of confusion crossing her small features. "Why?" she asked.

Hannah blinked, "It's polite, and it's good to be polite," she informed the child.

Artemis was quiet for a moment dropping her arms for a second; it was as if she was thinking about what the woman had said before raising her arms again "Up. Please."

Hannah smiled and bent down to pick up the odd child, "My name is Mrs. Shepard," she said introducing herself to the young child.

Artemis peered into Hannah Shepard's eyes, "Shepard?" She echoed, and Hannah nodded. Again the child was quiet as if she were thinking quite seriously about it.

"Say hello Artie," the social worker egged her on and he was met with Artemis's intense gaze for a split second before the child returned to inspecting the Shepards.

"My name is Artemis," she informed Hannah after a short moment and looked at the man standing beside her before looking back at who would soon be her mother. "Are you going to be my mommy and daddy?"She asked in a serious tone.

Hannah looked at her husband who nodded, "Would you like for us to be your mommy and daddy?"

The child stopped again as if she were thinking deeply about it, "Do you have cookies?" Artemis asked still incredibly serious.

"Yes we have cookies," and a rare smile appeared on Artemis's face, causing Hannah to smile as well. There was nothing more infectious than a child's smile, and Artemis's was big. The smile only lasted for a few seconds before the serious look returned to her face.

"What's your name?" she asked turning to the man.

Hannah's husband smiled, "Mr. Shepard."

Artemis looked back at Hannah and then at the man who would be her father, "Will name be Shepard?" she asked and both adults nodded. "Shepard," she repeated. She did it again trying it out a few times.

Hannah looked at her, "So do you want us to be your mommy and daddy?" She repeated again.

"Shepard," she echoed again as if lost in her own thoughts. "Okay."

The social worker blinked, "Artie are you sure?" he asked her and the child turned to him.

"My name is Shepard? " Artemis informed him before turning to Hannah Shepard, "Down please?" she asked.

Hannah placed her down on the ground and Artemis waddled back to her couch pulling herself onto it and sitting down going back to watching the other children.

The social worker gave a nervous chuckle, "That's Artie." He hoped that they would take her.

Artemis eyes suddenly flashed onto him, "Shepard," she repeated correcting him.

Hanna h suddenly laughed amused by the child's antics, the child was certainly not like most three year olds she had certainly met. But she was the one. "That's her," she said turning to her husband who nodded a smile on his face.

* * *

"_I was adopted by the Shepard's I took their name, and for three years my life was normal. I was happy. They were perfect parents. They weren't wealthy but I never went hungry. I never had to fight for my food, had they survived a drive by shooting well...that would just be speculation." It was another rare smile, this time real. She had been genuinely happy with the Shepards, of course she based this loosely on what she could remember of those times. She looked at the blue drink in front of her. "When I was six my parents died. They were killed in some gang fight. I was an orphan again. I was an odd child back then, combined with the fact that most people who adopt want babies or toddlers I wasn't going to get adopted. I got sent to foster care again. This one was probably owned by someone who worked in the Reds. The children there were older, no babies. No toddlers. I think the ages ranged from five and up. They did come and check us but I'm sure they paid those social workers off. All I know is that no one came to adopt me. And so after a few weeks in my foster home I was given my initiation into the Reds."_

"_Initiation?" Liara repeated. _

"_I was six or seven when I was given a choice, be a...Street walker or become a foot soldier." Artemis Shepard replied. "No it wasn't a choice, not really..."_

* * *

Johnny looked at the six year old girl in front of him, her blood soaked hands tightly gripping the jagged piece of concrete she had picked up off the ground as she stared at him. Even though one of her eyes was swollen shut, her gaze was still intense and unsettling. The room which had been filled with screaming and chanting children was now deathly quiet with only the sounds of her fallen opponents whimpering in the background. His eyes swept over her fallen opponent, looking at the blood pool around his shattered kneecap.

"Shit." Johnny eye's flicked over to his friend Craven, "She would probably bring in more money as a whore, and she's got the perfect pretty face for one. She has all the features they love. We could make a fortune on her."

Johnny shook his head, "You simply want to punish her because you lost a few credits betting on the boy."

Craven gave him a dirty look shaking his head as he took a drag of his cigarette, "You've got to be kidding me, we'd make a fortune on her, and if you remember you lost more than a few credits on her. She'd make a good bitch, give her a bit of red sand and she'd be docile enough for whatever those perverts want to do too her. The sand might even make her act normal, damn brat gives me the creeps. I don't want her running with me. People will remember her."

Johnny looked at the Artemis, "No she earned her place just like you did and just like I did. Besides," Johnny nodded at the whimpering kid, "that one is going to cost us a fortune."

"We could make up the bill in one night by offering her services to the highest bidder. You know they pay top dollar for virgins, and she's the right age as well."

"She passed her Initiation."

"Barely," Craven countered pointing to the boy in front of him, "Look at him apart from what's left of his knee she hadn't touched him. The boy could have been some excellent muscle still can. She got lucky and you know very well in our line of work luck isn't worth shit. She'll only slow you down. She won't last very long, and she won't amount to shit. If it makes you feel any better she'll probably enjoy it. Girl looks like she'll grow up to be a whore, could possibly a high class one."

Johnny turned to Artemis again, he had never seen a child fight so hard, most of them would fall down and cry. Occasionally they would get a couple of children who would fight. Most of them grew up into common thugs; very few of them lived past their fifteenth birthday. "Give her the brand and then give her to Fox."

Craven sneered, "You're signing the brat's death warrant."

Johnny shrugged, "If you're right Fox will send her back within a few days, she doesn't like dead weight. If that happens you can sell her to the highest bidder, and keep my share."

A cruel smile appeared on Craven's face, "Deal."

Johnny rolled his eyes, "Go clean up the mess," he ordered nodding in the direction of the bleeding boy and walked over to Artemis grabbing her wrist, forcing her to drop the rock, and raising it up. "Winner." It was a simple statement but the rest of the children who had been watching began to chant and cheer as they stomped their feet and screamed for her.

Artemis looked up at him, "I don't want to be one of them."

Johnny looked down at her, "One of who?"

Artemis paused as if she were thinking about it for a second trying to remember the word she had heard before, "A streetwalker. I don't want to be like that boy I saw last night. He screamed so loudly, I could hear it even though I covered my ears. The bigger man was behind him and he was moving his hips and sweating and the boy kept on screaming until it stopped."

Johnny frowned, "Where were you?" Artemis looked at Johnny for a moment before her eyes drifted to Craven who was dragging the injured boy away roughly by the arm. Johnny followed her gaze, wincing. "He locked you in the closet and made you watch." He found it disconcerting that Craven had taken such an interest in this child. He had been the one to pick who would be fighting, it suddenly made sense why

"I don't want to be one of them a who—whore, his whore." she repeated the words which she had heard Craven use the other night, the words strange on her tongue. "I don't want to be a street walker, so I hurt him. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize, you did what you had to do to survive, that's all that matter in this god damn galaxy surviving," Johnny said his voice rough. "Do you hear me don't apologize for surviving for doing what you have to get by, it's a sign of weakness. Weakness isn't tolerated in the Reds. If you're weak you end up like that boy do you understand?"

Artemis looked at him again quiet for a second before nodding; she didn't want to become that boy.

Johnny looked at the girl in front of him, there was something different about her, she was certainly smarter than most others her age. She could go far with the Reds as long as she proved useful. He bent down till he was eye level with Artemis looking at her not surprised that she met his gaze. "You want to be strong?"

"Strong?" Artemis echoed a confused look on her face.

"That boy, he was weak, if he was strong he wouldn't be where he is now. Do you want to be strong?" he asked her again.

Artemis answer was quick. "Yes."

Johnny nodded, "I know, I'm going to send you to Fox. She'll make you strong if you listen to her, and then Craven won't be able to make you into that boy. Do whatever it takes to make Fox happy. "

Artemis looked at the man, "Keep Fox happy," she repeated.

_

* * *

Artemis finished her tale and looked at her empty glass, she had always liked Johnny, those words had probably saved her life. "I maimed another child so my body wouldn't be sold into prostitution. That was my choice, fight to win, prove my worth or be treated like cattle." She finally looked up at the other two women. Ashley looked a little green while Liara simply stared at her with an unreadable expression hidden in her eyes._

"_He forced you to watch?" Ashley finally asked. "You were six."_

_Artemis shrugged; she had closed her eyes after the boy had begun to scream in agony. Craven had probably done her favour, a rather scarring favour but she would have done anything to not be in that position. To not be that nameless boy who was raped several times that night by several different men. She wondered what ever happened to him. "The Reds had many rings; they were big on trafficking, children, people. They smuggled illegal weapons. Gambling was a big thing, they were also the biggest dealers of Red Sand on Earth. I think it's how they got their name. Apparently they have turned into a human supremacist group since I've been gone." She said changing the subject. _

"_And what about this Fox?" Liara asked._

_Artemis stared at her empty glass, her grey eyes stormy with emotion, before getting up abruptly, "Maybe some other time, we're still on duty after all. Maybe another time." _


	2. Chapter 2: Written in the Stars

_**A/N: I realized while writing this chapter that this is two stories in one. Almost a story within a story deal, while her childhood will most certainly be dark twisted mess, it will be contrasted with almost pleasant times as she romances Liara. **_

_

* * *

She sat quietly in the empty mess basking in the silence. She had always enjoyed the peace that silence brought her and she used the usually fleeting moments to reflect. The images of Finch's dead body came back to the forefront of her mind, despite attempts to push it back down. What if that had been the wrong decision, what if they had sent someone else after her, someone who wasn't weak and clearly not prepared to deal with her. It was plausible that the rapid expansion had made them weak; a person like Finch would have been better as a street walker, or at the very least a low level drug dealer. He had been expendable. _

_The sound of footsteps caused forced her out the thoughts that plagued her and her eyes shifted to the source of the interruption. A small puzzled look crossed her features when her gaze fell on Liara, as she wondered what the Prothean expert was doing up at this time. _

"_Commander!" There was a mixture of shock and a hint of astonishment on Liara's features. "I didn't think that anyone would be up at this time. I simply wanted something to eat; I didn't mean to disturb you."_

_Artemis watched Liara babble on for a minute and the corner of her lips twitched as she held back her amusement, "It's fine," she assured her easily as she made a motion with her hand for Liara to take a seat. "I was simply...reminiscing."_

_Liara nodded, "I always did find it easier to think in complete silence," she offered trying to make conversation._

_Artemis eyes flicked over to Liara studying her for a split second before shifting back to the file she had in her hand, "It is."_

_Liara bit her lip nervously unused to the woman in front of her and slightly afraid that she had offended her for some reason. After a few short seconds of silence, "I'm sorry if I have offended you in some way. I'm not used to deal with your species," she blurted causing Shepard to look up at her, a puzzled look on her face. _

_Artemis gave her a confused look before sighing and placing the file on the table in front of her, and turning to her finally giving Liara her full attention, "You haven't offended me," she reassured her taking Liara once again. "Why do you think you've offended me?" _

"_Earlier, when I asked you about your childhood, Ashley informed that it wasn't the best way to ask." _

_Artemis was quiet for a second, "No, it would take a lot more than that to offend me Liara." Her tone was surprisingly comforting; she had been there once upon a time. When she had joined the Alliance, it had been like entering a new world and it had confused her. She had been forced to adapt. "I'd rather you ask then watch one of those vids about me. They make my history seem like I just had a rough upbringing. They aren't even close to the truth." _

_Liara nodded looking at the spectre in front of her, it was clear the events of today had upset her in some way. She had been distracted after their one drink in Chora's Den. "Would now be a bad time to ask you about Fox? You mentioned that name earlier when you were talking about your childhood."_

_Artemis considered Liara had asked, maybe it would help ease her restlessness to talk more about her past. Telling Liara and Ashley about the first six years of her childhood had been a rather cathartic experience. "After I got my branding—" _

_Liara blushed suddenly feeling very ignorant, "I'm sorry to interrupt Shepard but what is this branding that you kept mentioning."_

_Artemis blinked in surprise astounded that Liara had never heard of the term before. She reached for the top of her shirt slowly unbuttoning it so Liara could see her own brand, "Branding is an act of body modification, in human history it was used on criminals, slaves. It was more commonly used to show ownership of cattle, the owner of the cattle would burn his mark into the flank of the cattle to signify, if those cattle ever got lost or stolen that it was his." Artemis slowly peeled away the top of her shirt revealing her upper chest. There right under the jugular notch, on the manubrium, written in gothic style was the figures one and zero. _

_Liara gawked at the burn mark on Shepard's chest. "Goddess," she whispered, unknowingly reaching out to touch the mark. _

_Artemis didn't pull away, instead letting Liara trace her brand. She could remember that day, as the hot iron pressed into her flesh it also seared itself in her mind. She would never forget that pain. "They used a hot iron—"_

* * *

Her arms and legs had been tightly strapped down to what appeared to be a table with metal cuffs. She had been left alone, simply trapped to the table and she struggled as violently as she could, wanting desperately to be free. The urge to cry was overwhelming but Johnny's words were still fresh in her young mind. Weakness was bad, and she didn't want to be in that faceless boy's position. The thought scared her, more than anything in the world. She pulled on her bindings, but her movement was to severely limited to help her gain enough traction to break free, not that she personally had the strength to do so such an act.

"Stay still," the voice cut through the air.

Artemis stopped immediately. She didn't recognize the voice, immediately wondering if this new voice was Fox. She shook her head, the voice was clearly male, and Johnny had said that Fox was a girl. She craned her neck as much as possible to take a better look at the large man who entered the room. The first thing that she noticed was his several facial piercings. The silver studs and hoop caught the sunlight that was shining through the sole window in the room causing them to glitter.

"At least this one listens," the man grumbled to Johnny.

Johnny nodded, "Aren't you going to strap her body down? You don't want her moving," he took a drag of his cigarette.

The man turned on him, anger flashing in his eyes, "Do not tell me how to do my job."

Johnny immediately held up his arms, attempting to calm the bigger man down, "Easy their Bo, I was just trying to be helpful," Johnny said defensively.

The man identified as Kenzie stared down the shorter man for a minute before turning his attention to the girl strapped down on his table. "Where should I put the stamp on her ass or above her cunt?" he asked pulling out one of his poker. "And how big do you want it? Girl with a pretty face like that might be fought over in a turf war, you might want to put a big fucking sign on her saying that she's the Red's property—"

"She's not going to be a whore." Johnny interrupted, "She passed her initiation, and she earned her spot."

Kenzie gave the child in front of him a one over, her eye was still swollen shut and on the same side of her face was a scrape from where her face had skidded across the pavement. The parts of her arms he could see were also heavily bruised; some of her wounds were still fresh and oozing blood slowly. Her small child fingers were still caked in blood, who's Kenzie couldn't be sure but the blood had already clotted clinging to Artemis's skin. He turned to Johnny, "You're shitting me."

Johnny smirked, "She shattered another kid's kneecap, didn't stop till the boy begged her to stop. It's been the most brutal initiation I've personally ever witnessed." He took another drag of his cigarette, "I tell you t his kid is special, a born survivor. I'm sure some kid took a vid of the fight, if I can find a copy I'll send it to you."

Kenzie gave the kid another look over, he personally saw nothing that was impressive. She was just another runt, who would probably be dead before she hit puberty, and if she did hit puberty there was a high chance she wouldn't see her sixteenth birthday. "If you say so," he finally grunted as he slid on a thick work glove picking up a long rod. "You keeping her?" he asked.

Johnny looked at Artemis who was sitting their quietly staying as still as possible, at least she followed direction well, he looked over at Kenzie flicking his cigarette down and stepping on it with his combat boot. "I'm giving her to Fox."

Kenzie nearly dropped the metal rod, "Shit Fox? Are you trying to kill her? You know she's fucking unstable."

Johnny looked Kenzie a serious expression on his face as he watched Kenzie using a blowtorch on the emblem part of the rod. The blackened metal turning a bright orange as it began to heat up. "I think the kid is special, if she can survive Fox's first week then she'll have a chance that no one else has. She's not made to be some common thug. The way she took out the kid's knee, she knew exactly what she was doing."

"You better hope that you're right," Kenzie waited until the entire Tenth Street Red Emblem was glowing a bright orange before turning to Artemis. "Which arm?" he asked her roughly.

"Not on the arm," Johnny interrupted him cutting Artemis off before she could respond. "On the chest, you know where you gave Fox her second one."

Kenzie turned on Johnny wheeling around almost forgetting that he had the poker in his hand. There was concern on his face, giving a child their brand was one thing but he certainly was no kid killer. "Are you fucking mad, there is no muscle their just a bit of skin and a bit of bone. She's a kid Johnny; she's not eighteen like Fox was."

Johnny turned to Artemis staring at her long and hard before he slowly made his way to the table and grabbed her by her shirt and pulled roughly, ripping the thin fabric in two as he displayed her chest. He pointed to the bare spot on her chest, "Do it. Or I'll do it myself," his voice was hard as he glared at the older man. His hands placed firmly on Artemis's shoulders keeping her pinned down.

Kenzie stared at Johnny slightly surprised that he had taken that tone with him. "Fuck you. If she dies it's on your fucking head," he snarled as he pushed the hot metal against Artemis's bare chest.

She had screamed as all the muscles in her body contracted as the pain began to slowly radiate through her entire being. The sound of her flesh sizzling hit her ears first and before the smell of burning human flesh, her burning flesh, assaulted her nose. Her body began to violently thrash as much as it possibly could given that it was restrained tightly, but the pain didn't stop as her back arched, and her eyes rolled to the back of her head unaware that Kenzie had already removed the poker, throwing it into a container filled with water which sizzled violently as the metal was rapidly cooled. Her body bucked a bit for a few seconds more before it finally went limp as she blacked out from the pain.

Kenzie's hands immediately grabbed her wrist and began to look for a pulse, he found one but it was weak. He let the Artemis's arm drop. "She's fucking alive. No thanks to you."

Johnny looked down at the child in front of him and gently wiped a bit of drool from the side of Shepard's mouth, watching her now branded chest rise slowly before falling down. It had been a risky move, but she had lived. The kid was a survivor, "Patch her up," he ordered. "I want her delivered to Fox by the end of the night. No medi-gel, the old fashioned way. She needs to remember this pain." It was the only way she was going to survive her first meeting with Fox.

_

* * *

Artemis watched Liara's fingers as she gently traced the mark on her skin, despite the fact that she had lost most sensation to the area where Kenzie's hot iron had pressed into her skin, Liara's gentle touch felt nice. "Your body doesn't forget trauma like this. I've been shot, I've been stabbed, whipped, electrocuted, you name it I'm sure it's happened to me, this was the worst pain that I've ever felt. Nothing else compares to it." It was probably why her pain tolerance was so high. _

_Liara, as if suddenly realizing that her hand was on Artemis's chest, jerked her hand back her blood rushing to her cheeks as she blushed, "I'm sorry."_

_Artemis accepted the apology with a small nod of her head as she buttoned her shirt back up. She finished and quickly and smoothed out her shirt. Her pale eyes focusing on the Asari in front of her, "Tattoos can be removed rather easily, brands, they can't and no one wants their cattle running off without a way to identify them," she explained._

"_With cosmetic surgery you could have it removed," Liara informed her. "They would no longer stake a claim to you."_

_Artemis shook her head, she had thought of it of course when she had left, she had to remove all sign of what she was. "I don't want to. It reminds me every day that I've survived the worst this galaxy has thrown at me and survived. They remind me of all the lives I ruined, all the people I killed while I ran with the Reds, they tell the story of who I was and what I have to atone for. "_

"_I didn't see you as a spiritual person Commander," Liara said thoroughly surprised at Artemis's words. _

_Artemis shrugged a slight blush rising to her cheeks it was as if she were embarrassed, "I am not a common street thug. I did have an education," her voice was almost defensive, it was true she would probably never have a fancy degree like Liara's but she was not stupid. Her education had comprised of a couple hours of lessons daily and a lot of what she had learned had been applied knowledge. Everything else she had substituted by reading as many books as she could whenever she had spare time. _

_This time it was Liara's turn to blush, "Again I seemed to have offended you, I didn't mean to imply that were uneducated Commander. You can see why I prefer to spend time by myself I can't embarrass myself."_

_Artemis sighed, "You didn't offend me, though many people who have graduated from a university, who have their doctorates look down at me because I don't have a degree." _

"_I can understand how you feel; my work has been looked over because I'm only 106. My age has nothing to do with what I can contribute to my field."_

_Artemis nodded in agreement, pleasantly surprised at Liara's attitude, she was not like the others; the ones who were born to privilege and had rather easy lives, and who looked at her as if she were dirt. There was silence as the two women were lost in their own thoughts, before Artemis broke the quiet, "I have some cookies in my cabin." _

_Liara blinked, "Cookies?" she echoed, "What are they?"_

_A smile crossed Artemis's face and she got up to go retrieve her secret stash, she had them imported from Earth, one of the few things that she indulged herself in. She opened the tin and placed it on the table pushing it towards Liara, "They're good, chocolate chip with real chocolate, not the synthetic stuff they try to pass off as the real thing." _

_The Prothean scientist took one of the thick chocolate chip cookies, watching as Artemis picked up one and took a bite , she followed suit. She was pleasantly surprised at the sweetness of the chocolate as it melted in her mouth. Her eyes widening in surprise at how good the cookie was, she swallowed and looked up at Shepard who was watching her curiously from where she was nibbling on her cookies. "Shepard, these are amazing." _

_Artemis grinned, glad that Liara had liked, what she considered the only Earth delicacy worth talking about, "I know." _

_The woman were silent sharing the cookies between them. Liara spoke first, "You still haven't told me about Fox. Who was she to you." _

_Artemis chewed quietly. Fox had been everything to her, she had been her mentor, her abuser, her friend, her boss, her lover, and there was so still so much. She had loved Fox, adored her and would have done anything to keep her happy. But at the same time she had loathed the woman. Their relationship had been complex, but if it hadn't been for Fox she wouldn't be where she was. "Fox? I lam who today because of Fox." _

"_She sounds like an amazing woman Commander." _

"_She was—is." Artemis was quiet; had it been Fox instead of Finch..."Our relationship was, well, complex from day one—" _

* * *

"Do you remember what I said?"

Artemis looked up at Johnny for a split second as if she were acknowledging his existence, "Yes."

Johnny looked at Artemis with mild surprise at the defiance in her tone, he reached to put his hand on her shoulder, he wasn't surprised when she pulled away from him. She glanced up at him once again and he could see the betrayal on her face and the anger in her eyes as well the hint of confusion. "And what was that?"

This time Artemis didn't look up at him instead focusing on the dashboard trying to keep her breaths shallow enough so that the still sharp pain in her chest didn't hurt so badly. It had been a few days after her first branding experience; "To keep Fox happy."

Johnny was quiet for a moment choosing his words carefully, "You're mad because I let Kenzie hurt you." Artemis didn't make any notion that she was listening still staring at the dashboard with concentration Johnny didn't realize was possible in a child of six. "I hope you've learned the lesson. The closest people to you, the ones you trust they will be the one to betray you. You think what I did hurt you? Fox will cut you so much deeper and cause you so much more pain if you let her. You may not like how I'm doing it, but I'm making sure you don't go back to Craven and teaching you how to survive." There was still no response from Artemis, and Johnny rolled his eyes; she would learn the hard way.

The vehicle was quiet for the remainder of the ride; Artemis had eventually stopped staring at the dashboard and instead focused her attention on watching the cars pass by her window till finally the vehicle came to a stop. She finally turned to Johnny, "Are we there yet?"

Johnny didn't answer for a moment, a childish attempt to punish the six year old, as he stepped parked the car and opened the door stepping out of it. "Let's go."

Artemis unfastened her seatbelt and opened the door sliding out of the seat and landing on the ground, her eyes immediately scanning her surroundings before falling back on Johnny who was watching her. She scowled at him waiting for him to lead the way so she could follow. She was rewarded with a smirk which caused her to scowl more as she followed the older man. Her eyes taking in her surroundings, the area was certainly much better than where she had been living. Everything was so much newer, there was no graffiti sprawled on the sides of buildings, no scantily dressed women in the street. And there was a distinct lack of children running about. "Am I going to live here?" The place reminded her of better times when her mother and father were still alive.

"If you impress Fox you might be able to live in some place without any children, and you'll be able to earn some money so you'll be able to buy whatever it is you want." Johnny was quiet for a moment, "I hear that she's looking for a protégé, if you really impress her you'll live with her and have her personal attention. She'll make sure you are groomed to become her." Artemis looked at him, not particularly impressed. "You'll never be that boy."

A determined look crossed Artemis's face, but she said nothing, planning to do whatever it took to become Fox's protégé. They entered the elevator and Johnny pushed a button taking them to the top floor. The ride seemed to be painstakingly long, especially for a six year old and she began to fidget tapping her foot nervously.

Johnny looked over at her and gave a strong cuff on the back of her head, "Don't do that in front of her, Fox doesn't like fear so don't be afraid, don't cry." The elevator door opened, "Screaming though...she likes that," he muttered the last bit under his breath as he pushed Shepard to Fox's apartment.

Artemis looked up at him a confused look on her face, "Will she hurt me?"

"Yes, she probably will," Johnny answered honestly. "But at the end of the day it will be worth it. You will not be like most of the common thugs that we have, you'll live longer than average and you may end up doing something great, might even be one of the few to break away from this life. Or maybe you'll make it your career, right now anything is possible." With that being said, he pushed the green panel on Fox's door.

The door slid open after a moment and Artemis finally met the woman who was to be a blessing and curse. The tall athletic woman with a light tan and several scars stood in front of them, her amber eyes focusing on Johnny as she brushed a strand of her auburn hair out of her face. She was half hidden, leaning against the wall.

"Johnny," her tone was curt, impatient even, but it carried her authority that had been earned. "I'm busy, so where is this _amazing_ child that you've been trying to pawn off on me."

Johnny immediately pointed down to Artemis who was busy studying Fox, quickly taking in all the scars that littered her body, mixed with the occasional tattoo. Her eyes finally fell onto what would soon be matching brand marks when hers healed. She suddenly shifted her gaze looking up at Fox who had turned to her and was studying her with the same intensity.

"You saw the vid I sent you?" Johnny asked, "It's rough I know, but what can you expect from kids."

Fox stared at Artemis for another second more studying the faded bruises on her face and on her body, before turning to Johnny. "You've got to be shitting me. She's a runt, and I watched the entire fucking video, this little piece of shit got her ass kicked the entire fight and then cheats to win," she said, her tone was suddenly so much colder. "I don't have the fucking time to babysit fucking babies."

"But the vid—"Johnny began. "Talk to her, she's intelligent and has a talent that is to rare to let go."

"I hate fucking repeating myself..." Fox began about to launch herself into a tirade.

Artemis's continued to study the woman in front of her as well as her other surroundings, "You're hurt," she commented out loud, forcing both adults to turn to her. Johnny looked positively pale as Fox's eyes flashed in anger.

"What the fuck did you say?"

Artemis looked up at Fox, "You're hurt," she repeated again.

Fox snarled and raised her hand to backhand the child who was clearly not interested in being hit again as she took a step back out of her reach a proud look crossing her features. She turned her eyes back to Johnny, wondering if he had fed the child information that she had been shot a few hours prior. No, it would be highly unlikely she was several pay grades above Johnny. She frowned as she pulled herself away from the wall and took a step into the wall giving Artemis a good hard backhand across the face, finally revealing the fact that her white shirt had a dark red patch on her left side. The ring on her finger catching as it cut into Shepard's face, the blood immediately welled up and slowly dripped down her face. The child didn't flinch or pull away instead choosing to continue to stare at Fox an irritating defiant look in her eyes. The intensity of her gaze was almost unsettling. maybe Johnny had a point.

"Holy shit you got shot!" Johnny cried out and Fox turned to him her eyes flashing for a second before turning back to Artemis.

"How did you know?"

Artemis looked at her, "Your body is acting just like mine."

Fox sneered looking at the fading bruises before turning to Johnny, she was about to say something when Johnny reached over to Artemis pulling on her shirt enough to reveal where she had taken her brand, "The kid knows pain. She's a survivor, and her observational skills are better than most. She's six and she could tell that you were injured before I did. She's an asset to your side and imagine what she'll be, what she could become under your wing."

Fox was quiet, her mind racing, she had seen the video, she had been curious about the kid, "Bo will take her," she finally said as she re-entered her apartment. "If she provides to be as good as you say Johnny, then I'll reconsider. Until then, well maybe she can learn to be useful I can't do much with an underweight kid who can't hold her weight in a fight."

"Bo?" Artemis asked looking at Johnny. "I'm not going to live with Fox?" she asked confused.

"Live with me? Fuck that, how old are you three? I don't want your grimy little hands on my stuff, it's expensive. You can ruin Bo's shit." Fox informed her. "Bo is my right hand man, if he thinks you're shit...well I don't like dead weight, I'm sure Craven will find some use for you. Do you understand?"

Artemis stared at the woman in front of her an unreadable look on her face, but finally nodded. She had no idea what had just happened but anything was better than letting Craven get her hands on her.

_

* * *

Liara yawned and Artemis stopped speaking as amusement danced in her eyes, "And I thought my life was so incredibly fascinating," her sarcasm was lost on Liara who looked ready to apologize again, "It's fine," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "You should get some sleep."_

"_As should you Commander." Liara was quiet for a moment, "Maybe we could...well this could be our habit." _

_Artemis looked up at her, "I tell you my history?" she was met with a nod from Liara and a moment of silence passed, "I think I'd like that."_


	3. Chapter 3: Good Enough

**A/N: Review it even if you hate it. I like constructive criticisms, and I am allowing anonymous reviews so anyone can review... If you want for me to reply, well then sign in.**

_

* * *

Ashley watched as Liara was attempting to discretely watch an unaware Shepard stripping out of her armour and an almost playful smile appeared on her features, "Like the view Doc?" _

_Liara blushed instantaneously as Artemis turned around to look at the both of them a look of confusion on her features, "Huh?" she asked Ashley who smiled at her. _

_Ashley grinned, "Oh I was just asking Liara here if she liked the view. Judging by the blush on her cheeks I think she did." Artemis paused and her eyes flicked over to Liara, she quickly gave her a once over before returning to stripping out of her armour. Liara quickly slipped away still slightly embarrassed to have been caught and by Artemis's lack of a comment, leaving the two women alone. "Rumour on deck is that you've been spending an awful lot of time with Liara over there. So the question is what's going on between the two of you?" _

_Artemis glanced back as she undid her greaves pulling on the clamps, "Why does it matter William's?" she pulled off one of her greaves before working on the other, "Unless of course, you're jealous."_

_Ashley was shocked; Artemis rarely teased anyone let alone told a joke sarcastic or otherwise to anyone on the crew, "Damn Liara must be a positive influence because you told a joke." Artemis turned around an amused expression on her face and Ashley immediately saluted Artemis, "with all due respect ma'am." _

_Artemis rolled her eyes as she pulled of her last greave and looked at Ashley, "It's not like that; she just wanted to know more about my past. I think she's simply interested in me because of this Prothean data in my head," she said with a shrug as she bent over to pick up her armour._

_Ashley blinked surprised at Artemis's attitude, "You can't be serious Skipper you've noticed the stares the lingering touches, the way her face lights up when you enter the room. Surely you have all people have noticed it."_

"_People have never been interested in who I am, they've been interested in what I could do, or what I could do for them," Artemis responded as she finished picking up her armour and weapons, not even bothering to look back at Ashley. "I was chosen by the Brass to become a Spectre by the Alliance Brass not because of who I am but what I could do and what I have done. When people look at me they don't see who I am, they paint me as this hero, or they simply look at my track record and think I can make use of her. Liara simply wants to study what made me so special that I can withstand getting my mind messed with by a Prothean beacon."_

"_And you said I was cynical," Ashley commented at Artemis's view on the world._

_Artemis shrugged as she headed to the elevator to put away her things in her locker, "But accurate." With that the elevator slid shut leaving Shepard alone with her thoughts, which were plagued with images of Liara, and Ashley's words and she could only hope that Liara was simply interested in her visions. The elevator door slid open and she stepped out surprised to see Liara who seemed to be waiting for her. "Liara?" she questioned._

"_I wanted to apologize for before, I didn't realize that I was staring and Kaiden informed me that staring was considered impolite in human culture."_

_Artemis stared as Liara continued to apologize, she hadn't minded Liara looking at her, she doubted that Liara had been judging her like so many had before. "Its fine," she interrupted._

"_It is? I'm learning as fast as I can, but there are so many nuances that I still do not know."_

"_Its fine," Artemis repeated again, shifting her weight slightly so she could get a better grip on her armour which was still in her arms. "I don't mind you staring," she added as she stepped out of the lift and headed to her locker with Liara following her. There was nothing more said between the two as Artemis bent down to place her armour away. She finished and looked around; she wasn't truly surprised that no one was around but Kaiden, who was busy working away. _

"_Did the negotiations go well?" he asked her completely ignoring the presence of Liara._

_Artemis shrugged, "I ended up killing him."_

"_You killed him? Were the negotiations that bad?" _

_Another shrug, she wasn't too perturbed by her actions; "He demanded that I call him Lord, I refused and had to pump a few rounds into him."_

"_But...Hackett wanted you to negotiate with him," Kaiden protested, he paused as if realizing that he sounded as if he was questioning the commander's actions. "With all due respect, Ma'am," he added hastily._

"_Then why would he send Shepard, instead of the best negotiators the Alliance has to offer?" Liara asked immediately rushing to Artemis's defence. _

_A small smile appeared on Artemis's face at Liara's defence of her actions and then shrugged once more at Kaiden, "So it was a failed mission, which benefits the Alliance. I should get a mild chewing out by the brass, after all the Alliance high command can't be seen ordering an assassination." _

_Kaiden nodded as it all clicked n his head, "True enough ma'am." _

_Artemis nodded back at him glad that he caught on quickly as she watched from the corner of her eye as Liara attempted to slip away quietly. "Talk to you later Alenko," she informed him as she followed Liara back to her small office. "Thank you," she said as they entered the small room the door hissing close behind her._

_Liara turned to face Shepard, "No one could blame you Shepard, Darius was clearly insane and if you gave him an inch he would have taken a mile. This wasn't a failed mission Commander."_

"_But it was, I had my orders and for all intensive purposes I ignored them, and quite frankly I think I enjoy it."_

"_Failing missions?" _

_A short laugh slipped out from Artemis's mouth, "No, the freedom to be given a mission and to do it my way without repercussions; the ability to look a situation and succeed by deviating from the original plan, or at least my orders." _

"_You seem to talk as if you've been caged for the majority of your life and you're finally free and are testing the waters," Liara suggested in surprise. She had seen the commander in action and she had been nothing short of amazing._

"_The Alliance kept me on a pretty short leash and Fox, well there was no leash she simply kept her hand on my collar at all time."_

"_Why? Surely she saw what you were capable off," Liara wondered out loud._

"_It started on my first mission that I was a part of..." _

* * *

It had been a few weeks since Fox had seen the runt that Johnny had given her and she had passed on to Bo her second in command. He hadn't complained about having to take in the child, which was strange because he really was a whiny bitch when it came to things like this, mostly because he was a cheap bastard. He was a cheap whiny bastard, but even Fox had to admit grudgingly that he had a way to bring out the best in people and his patience made him better suited to the runts needs. She had to admit that the runt didn't look so much like a runt anymore. She had gained a few pounds and the bruises that had littered her body were gone. Not to mention she smelled considerably better, she no longer looked like a street brat, something that Bo would never allow.

"The kid is impressive," Bo's voice broke Fox out of her thoughts and her amber eyes finally shifted from Artemis to her second in command and childhood friend. "You've got a good eye for talent."

A scowl crossed Fox's features, the only reason she had even looked twice at the brat was because she showed keen observational skills, something that most other children Artemis's age lacked. It was only borderline morbid curiosity to see what the brat could become, "I assume you make her work for her dinner? She's gained some weight since she's been here. I don't want her becoming fat; she's useless to me then."

"She's useless to you if she's starving for food, and useless to me. Three meals a day, and then I put her through a work out session and a few school lessons. The kid is a quick study. You've got your hands on something special, maybe a miniature version of you." Bo said and was quiet for a moment before adding, "Could even be better than you if given the opportunity."

The statement hung in the air, and Fox's eyes narrowed, it had been unnecessary information that he had added. "We're going to need her for the next mission. Get her ready."

This time it was Bo who frowned, "What is our next mission? You can't tell me to get her ready and then basically leave me in the dark to get her ready for god knows whatever your bullshit plan was. "

Fox's eyes flashed in anger but she said nothing, there would be time for that later, "The big guy wants to get his hand on some new weapons tech, so we're going to raid some lab or something," she said dismissively.

Bo raised an eyebrow, "Or something?" he questioned there was a mocking tone in his voice. "If you want to get shot again that's fine with me but don't drag me into it unless you have a well thought out plan. Or failing that at least tell me you checked the place out." When Fox didn't answer he pinched the bridge of his nose, "Here is an idea that will probably not get us shot at, how about not actually raiding the factory but I don't know stealing the shipment from right under their noses?"

Fox sneered, "You want to piss off the Alliance?" she asked. "That's exactly what will happen if we steal a shipment right out from under them, which will only tick off the boss man."

Bo swore under his breath, "As if stealing from the factory won't piss them off," he glanced over at Artemis who seemed to be engrossed in the puzzle that he had given her, it was rather basic decryption, she could build up on her knowledge from there if she so chose to, chances were she end up simply slapping some omni-gel on it., it was simpler and saved a considerable amount of time. "What's her job?" he asked Fox finally turning back to her.

Fox activated her omni-tool, "Aldrin Labs, gives tours to schools as part of their Alliance outreach program, it's one of the many stops that they make. Show the kids state of the art technology or some shit in so they have a goal later in life. They also show them some fucking aliens and shit. The runt gives us a way in."

Bo nodded; it was actually a somewhat decent plan, "You do realize that no one in our crew can actually follow her, which means she'll be left alone. And you do realize you're trusting a six year old too gather intel?"

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Bo raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to say something, and Fox scowled, "That was a rhetorical question. The plan is simple, and already in motion, next week the Alliance will be taking one of the orphanages that we run on this trip, you will take the runt with you. When you make a visit to Aldrin Labs, the brat will become 'separated' from the group and you use that as an excuse to tear the place apart."

"Why am I being volunteered for this?" Bo asked his voice terse, "The Alliance has pretty decent scanners, they'll be able to tell exactly who I am, and then they'll notice that I'm a suspect in several still open cases, illegal smuggling. I doubt that they'll let me within an inch of the Aldrin Labs factory. Why the fuck can't you go? You're the only one of us who hasn't been a suspect in anything."

"Because I'm good at my job,"

Bo opened his mouth to argue with her but shut it when he noticed Artemis watching the two of them as she continued to work on the decryption. "So why can't you do it this again? If you're so damn good chances are you won't get caught."

Fox turned and looked at Artemis who was watching them quietly, "Because I hate kids, and you like them," she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "And you'll figure something out, you always do. Besides it's not my job isn't to hold your fucking hand."

Bo shrugged, "It's doable. I just hate doing your god damn job for you."

Fox ignored him turning to Artemis who met her gaze with ease, "I don't tolerate failure from anybody; if this mission fails you will be punished severely." Artemis stared at her for a few moments longer and nodded showing that she understood. Fox studied the child for a few more moments before shrugging, she'd learn to feel fear soon enough. "I've got to go see the others; I didn't want you bitching at me for not informing you first like last time."

Bo shrugged, "And you got shot, because you thought of a shitty ass plan that nearly got us all killed and we lost a few people. I had every right to be bitchy."

Fox snorted, "They were expendable kind of like that kid if she doesn't perform," the threat didn't seem to disturb Artemis who had gone back to playing with the decryption that Bo had given her. Fox stared at the kid for a few moments more, not noticing that Bo had gone rigid for a moment before relaxing as Fox finally turned to him, nodding to him before she left his apartment.

Bo waited for a moment until she was really gone before sliding onto one of his couches.

"You don't like her," Artemis finally said speaking up as she got up from the kitchen table with the lock that Bo had given her and curled into the bigger man on the couch who put his arm around her.

Bo ignored the statement; "You finished awhile ago didn't you?" he asked changing the subject.

Artemis pulled herself up for a moment and stared at him for a moment before curling back into his arm a proud smile on her face, "It was easy."

Bo smiled at her, "So why didn't you do another one?"

"I did all of the ones that you had on the table, while you were talking to Fox. So I practiced on another lesson you taught me."

Bo let out a short pleased laugh, he hadn't meant for Artemis to use the fact that she was a child to spy on him and his interactions with Fox. "I may not like Fox, but my job is to keep her happy, for now," he added and if Artemis had heard what he had said she didn't let it show. The silence was nearly deafening between the two. "I have to get you ready for the mission, if you fail Fox will probably kill you, if she fails she might just give you a whipping."

Artemis looked at him confused, "I want to make Fox happy." She had no intention of being returned to Craven.

Bo sighed inwardly, she had no idea what she would be giving up if that was truly what she wanted, "Alright the first lesson, you need to learn how to act like a six year old girl..."

* * *

"So would you like to be a part of the Alliance?"

Artemis looked up in annoyance at the Alliance soldier, they had actually been watching the group rather closely and one of them seemed to have taken a keen interest in her, something that irritated her to no end. She turned back to look at the corridor which had scanned each of the children and the adults, "Where's Bo?" she asked finally looking back at the Alliance soldier. The soldier who had been harassing her headed off to go check what the holdup was and Artemis followed him spotting Bo who she ran up to him wrapping her arms around his leg tightly, the little bit of training that Bo had instilled in her kicking in and she began to bawl uncontrollably.

Bo immediately bent down and wrapped his arms around her as he picked her up, "What's the matter Artie?" there was concern in his voice he had underestimated how good Shepard was at crying on command.

"You promised to hold my hand the entire time and you lied to me," there were more tears to stream down Shepard's face as gently hit him on the chest, as if she were throwing a tantrum.

Bo gave an apologetic look at the guards as he rubbed Artemis's back in a soothing fashion, "Well I'm sorry Artie they told me I couldn't enter this place with you, so you'll have to tell me all about it when you get back okay?" he asked keeping Artemis pinned close to him as she held grabbed the small camera from Bo's shirt and put it on her shirt. "I'm sure one of the nice men here will hold your hand when you meet the aliens," he informed her.

"But I want you to do it," Artemis demanded again as she gave the area around them another quick scan.

"Are you sure we can't let him in," the man who had been pestering Artemis asked and she shot him a teary eyed hopeful gaze.

"He's a security risk, he's a suspect in several cases," came the sharp reply.

The man looked at the kid and Bo, "I'll watch him," he volunteered. "I'll keep him with the group, and besides if he honestly tries anything there is a krogan on base who would be glad to put him down."

Bo smiled at him, "You hear that kid we get to go see the aliens together and don't worry I'll protect you from the aliens," Bo informed her in a dramatic tone causing Artemis to giggle and wrap her arms around his neck, Bo smiled as he gently wiped away her tears before standing up and taking Shepard by the hand, who indeed had a big smile on her face as they let the two of them inside. His gamble had been right that people would always believe in the innocence of a child, especially one that was crying her eyes out. It would also be certainly easier for Shepard to pretend she was scared and run off when the time arose. The camera that she had attached to her shirt would give Fox a view of the facilities. Though the Krogan was worrying, he had heard rumours of their prowess in battle but he like many other humans hadn't actually seen one except on vids that could be found in the extranet.

"Promise?" Artemis asked him looking up at him, and the older man nodded ruffling her hair causing her to scowl and to pull her hand away from his and try and straighten it out. She hated when he did that.

Bo took her hand once more and followed the soldier who had vouched for him, feeling slightly sorry for him as he wondered what would happen after their shipment to the Alliance was stolen. With a smile fixed on his face he quickly begin to study the place his eyes quickly pinpointing the cameras, he shifted his eyes to Artemis who was doing exactly the same thing as he was, studying every new thing that caused her to shift her attention. Instead of the neutral expression was generally glued onto her face, there was an almost excited expression on her face mixed with child like curiosity. And for the first time Bo actually felt bad about what was doing to her, she out of all the children had the potential to be so much more not some mindless soldier who would be a slave to the Tenth Street Reds.

* * *

"_Bo seems more like a surrogate father than antagonistic like your relationship with Fox, you seem quite fond of Bo. But you don't talk about him with quite the same...zeal that you talk about Fox," Liara interrupted. _

_Artemis was quiet, she had loved that man like a father, "Bo was like a father to me, he made sure that whatever talents I had didn't wither and die, even though he wasn't the most learned person in the world he wanted me to be, and he constantly made sure that I was stimulated mentally. He made sure I had a basis in everything that could be possibly useful. He gave me my first gun and gave me lessons until he deemed I was adequate to carry a gun by myself, he actually hired a few tutors for me on occasion when we had a bit more money than usual so I could learn more than he could ever teach me. He also made sure to explain tactics, the man didn't know it but he was a decent tactician, his words of wisdom have gotten me out of more jams that I can count." She was quiet a moment an affectionate smile crossed her face, "And he protected me more than once from Fox. When I screwed up, he took the brunt of her wrath for me." _

"_He must be proud of what you've accomplished Commander," Liara told her. Artemis simply shrugged in response and Liara saw the pain and bitterness flash through Artemis's eyes, there was more to this than she was letting on. "And yet you play up Fox's role in shaping your life over Bo even though you admit he was like a father to you."_

_Artemis said nothing instead turning to study the Prothean artefacts that Liara had laid out on the table and memories from the Beacon on Eden Prime stirred in her head. She let the forgotten memory take her away for only a moment, to what seemed to be happier times before she snapped back to reality. She finally returned her gaze to Liara who seemed to be waiting for her to continue. "Well he did have a major role in shaping my life, because as they say back on Earth; you never forget your first." _

_Liara heard the storm of emotions that had seeped into Artemis's voice, the anger, the sadness and though she couldn't be certain she believed she detected a hint of shame, "Shepard I..."_

_Artemis looked at Liara seeing the look on her face, she quickly waved off what would possibly be a multitude of questions that she wasn't quite ready to answer yet. "Liara you're asking me to jump ahead a few years and that would be a spoiler." There was silence between the two women till finally Artemis spoke up again, "I think that maybe I should actually get back to work now."_

_Liara nodded, slightly annoyed at herself for forcing Artemis to retreat once again. _

_Artemis looked at her and gave her a rather warm smile, "We'll continue at the usual time, but I really do need to go back to my job before they decide to send a search party out for me."_

_Liara smiled and nodded graciously, "Of course Commander." Artemis nodded and turned to leave the small room and with a sudden and almost unusual burst of confidence that Liara had never felt around Shepard who had a knack for catching her off guard, "And Commander thank you for the cookies the other night, maybe tonight I could share something from Thessia."_

_Artemis stopped at the door and turned to look back at Liara who had an almost hopeful look on her face, and she could tell that it would mean a lot for Liara. And despite the fact that she should have said no, she found that she couldn't, and what was slightly more worrying to her was that she didn't want to. "I'd like that," she said a smile crossing her features. _


	4. Chapter 4: Falls Apart: Part 1

**A/N: Read and Review**

* * *

Artemis stared at the SSV Iwo Jima her eyes going over the frigate taking in every detail. She had never seen anything like it before in her short existence and she found herself wanting to look inside the ship badly, her curiosity getting the better of her she tugged on Bo's sleeve. Once she was sure she had his attention she gave him a pleading look, "Can we go inside?" she asked him.

Bo was once again taken aback by the innocence that Shepard displayed and he had to wonder if she was simply playing the role that she had been assigned or whether it was genuine curiosity on her part. He had never seen her this enthused before about anything, Artemis seemed to watch the world with detached interest quite content at watching it go by. Despite the fact that they had a job to do, he found himself turning to the soldier that was paying close attention to them, "Will we be going on board the ship?" he asked.

The soldier frowned slightly, "The SSV Iwo Jima is not a part of the tour," he informed the two of them. He noticed the disappointed look on Artemis's face, "But I can get you a model of it to take home later if you want," he offered. "You two can build it together if you want to."

A genuine pleased smile graced Artemis's face and she was about to turn around when Bo coughed roughly causing her to turn to him her pale grey eyes focusing on his face, "What do you say to the nice man?" he questioned her.

Artemis shot Bo an apologetic look before turning to the man, "Thank you," she said before turning back to the frigate. Maybe one day when she was older she would be able to fly through the galaxy on such a ship. She turned to the actual tour guide raising her hand. She wondered why it was called the Iwo Jima, and if they would see more frigate type ships, because she personally preferred them over the cruisers and the Dreadnaughts.

Bo watched the fascinated child out of the corner of his eyes, sure that she had forgotten the mission. He couldn't fault her, people had mistaken her quietness for maturity, but she was still a child who was currently interested in ships, he ruffled her head and she looked up at him and scowled at him as she let go of his hand and straightened her hair, "Don't get to excited we are still going to see some aliens." Artemis smiled maybe they would be as interesting as looking at the ships had been, she nodded at him in a disinterested way and continued to look at the ship. Bo grimaced slightly and continued, "And maybe when we get home we can tell her about it."

This time Artemis understood what he meant, remembering why she had been brought here she readjusted her grip on Bo's hand alerting him that she had remembered their real intentions and she finally pulled away from the ship, at least she'd get to take home a model that Bo could help her with. Her eyes quickly shifted from the frigate to scan the room once more looking for possible exits that she could exploit. She continued to study the room going over the mental checklist that Bo had drilled into her head. She didn't have to wait long as they were soon moving again, as she studied every new area going through the checklist and pulling her hand away from Bo as she walked by herself. It would be easier to escape. Well so she thought.

In what would be the first of many lessons learned on that day, Artemis came face to face with her first Krogan and quickly realized how massive the creature was. Its movements were slow and unthreatening, as he crouched down to be closer to the children's height. Artemis watched with interest as the big Krogan allowed the other children to touch his scaly head. She watched the Krogan for a moment longer before she finally looked up at Bo, giving him a questioning look as she once again tugged on his shirt.

Bo looked down at the kid and bent down, much like the Krogan was doing, "Don't worry Artie, I hear that the Krogan's were once the greatest fighters in the galaxy, till the Turians came down with some sort of disease which made the Krogan's into the galaxies biggest whiners." Bo's eyes flicked over to the Krogan whose pupils were constricting rapidly. "I hear their quads aren't working, nothing more worthless than a guy who can't use what—"The Krogan roared loudly causing the children to scatter as he stood at full height. Bo smirked as he too jumped up to full height pushing Artemis away from him, giving her a quick wink as the Krogan charged.

Artemis for her part screamed like the rest of the children as she backed away shifting through the numerous soldiers who were piling into the room, ignoring them as they yelled about a charging Krogan. Once she was free from the entanglement of leg Artemis turned around quickly slamming into another pair of legs. She promptly fell onto her rear and looked up at the blue woman in front of her.

"Little one everything will be all right," the Asari said reaching for Artemis to pick her up.

Artemis for her part immediately scrambled backwards, struggling to regain her balance as she got up and ran in the opposite direction, attempting to get to one of the exits that she had seen on her way inside seeing one that was closing she twisted her body slightly slipping through as the door hissed closed. Artemis immediately slowed down immediately she hadn't seen this hallway before.

Artemis quickly realized one particular feature that prevented her from completing her mission; she was much too short to reach the green panels on the doors even though she was jumping as high as she could. She scowled and looked for a chair or something of the sort to help her. Yet the hallway was empty, she tried to jump again, but once again she couldn't reach the interface leaving her with a permanent frown on her face. She had no choice she would have to walk down the hallway avoiding the doors that were open, as she could hear voices coming from them. Well at least she hoped she would find something she was looking for, something to bring back to Bo and more importantly Fox. Except she didn't exactly know what they wanted, Bo had asked her to look for shipping records while Fox had simply wanted to get the rough blueprints of the base. She frowned slightly though they had explained to her what they wanted she had no idea where to begin all she knew was that it was best to simply walk until she found what she thought Fox wanted.

"Ah I'm glad I found you," Artemis wheeled around only to be picked up by the Asari. "Come along child we'll return you to your group."

The grip around Artemis's waist was firm but gentle, and she knew that trying to wrestle her way out of it was stupid especially since she ad no idea what the Asari would do to her if she didn't follow her quietly. She had no idea what the Asari could do to her if she wasn't obedient. The other children had informed her with such certainty that the Asari had magical powers that they used to punish the wicked. She wouldn't have believed them if Bo hadn't confirmed it. "Are you going to hurt me?" she asked.

The Asari laughed, "Of course not, I'm sorry to have frightened you."

"But I heard that you can cut people in half with your mind, and you can read minds," Artemis said babbling as she looked around.

"I can't read minds," The Asari informed her iwith a smile on her face.

Artemis looked at her, "So you can cut people in half with your mind?" She was met with a mysterious smile, and she wisely decided to leave the topic alone as they continued to walk through the hallway.

The Asari was quiet as they walked through the hallway, before she paused placing her hand on a green panel causing the door to open as she took Artemis back to the group. "My name is Delandora and yours?"

Artemis looked at her curiously, she didn't seem as scary as the other children had described, Craven was certainly much scarier than this woman. "Artemis," she informed her in a matter of fact tone.

Delandora smiled at the child, "Artemis," she repeated and Shepard nodded. Delandora placed Artemis down taking her hand as they entered the room where the other children were.

* * *

"_I don't need to tell you that the mission was a terrible failure there was no glorious climax filled with action and gunfire. I had no idea where I was going; I had no idea what the goal of my mission was. I was six, and for the most part I was useless though. I wasn't that fast, I wasn't tall enough to reach the panels on doors. They were unreasonable in their expectations and their demands." Artemis explained. She was quiet for a moment, "Though that shouldn't have been the deciding factor had no real determination to get the job done, I certainly didn't know how important the mission was."_

"_You were still a child, a small one and you had other interests, ones that didn't involve stealing prototype weapons from the Alliance," Liara said quickly rushing to Shepard's defence. She was met with a wry smile from Artemis and felt another blush rushing to her cheeks. _

"_You learn quickly that other interests don't keep you alive around Fox. And that your only interest should be keeping Fox happy no matter what the cost." Artemis informed her. _

"_So Fox was your master? You make it sound as if you were a slave to her desires and whims." Liara asked._

_Artemis was quiet for a moment, "I wasn't afraid of Fox back then, even though Johnny had warned me what would happen if I failed to please her. I thought Bo would protect me, he was the only one who ever stood up to Fox." _

"_But he didn't?" _

"_He tried," Artemis replied simply. She was quiet for a moment, watching Liara as she sorted through ingredients. "And to be fair to him he protected me from the brunt of Fox's wrath most of the time. That mission wasn't the only one that I screwed up."_

_Liara looked up at Artemis, it was hard to imagine her afraid of anything. She had seen the woman stare down a Krogan Battlemaster and what was more impressive she had defeated him. Yet here Artemis was telling her of a time when she was weak, and Liara had to wonder what had kept Shepard from rising up against her tormenter. "She punished you." _

_Artemis's expression hardened for a moment before relaxing, "She did," Artemis confirmed. "But Fox wasn't stupid about it, she wanted a protégé, she wanted someone who was completely loyal to her." _

_Liara looked at her confused, "But...how?"_

_A bitter smile crossed Artemis's face but she said nothing instead looking at the ingredients in front of her, "Do you need any help?" she asked Liara changing the subject. _

_Liara glanced at Artemis before and shook her head. _

_Artemis frowned slightly in response, but resigned herself to continuing with her history, "I was a child and even though I noticed things that others wouldn't, that didn't mean that I understood what was going on—"_

* * *

"You know the rules in my apartment, take you fucking boots off," Fox ordered Bo watching as the taller man did as he was told. "Did you bring the fucking brat?" she asked him.

Bo's eyes met hers, "I sent her to bed ages ago," he took a seat across from Fox cautiously. She generally didn't like him sitting on her furniture but today she didn't seem to care "Fox you need to remember that she's only—"

"She failed," Fox stated a frown crossing over her features. She didn't want to hear excuses. "None of the footage was usable, she couldn't find anything that would tell us the route that they were taking she couldn't even shake a fucking alien."

"She's only six years old..." Bo tried again.

"No fucking excuses," Fox snapped snarling at him, "The boss wanted those fucking weapons and mods, what the fuck am I supposed to tell him? Our master plan failed because one of the brats that we used as a way in to get in ended up being fucking useless. He'll have the entire lot of us killed."

"Again she's six years old."

"You told me that she was good, but it's clear to anyone who watches the vid that she had no idea what she was doing. I don't have time nor the resources to spend on a fucking kid who can't follow simple instructions. Why she was even trying to enter those fucking doors anyway all she needed to do was fucking keep moving through the building."

"She was following instructions just fine, I told her to search for shipping data," Bo snapped at her. "She's six, she can't reach the fucking panels, how some freak accident of height is her fault I have no fucking clue. She did the best that she could given the circumstances. Besides you heard what that Asari said she can cut through people with her fucking mind, Artemis is not stupid. She did the right thing by not resisting."

An ugly look crossed Fox's face, "You did what?" she slammed her hands against the coffee table in front of her. "What the fuck did you tell her to do?" she snarled at him.

Bo frowned at her, "Don't fucking yell at me I was trying to make sure that no one was going to get killed this time I told her to look for shipping manifest. Your plan to rob it directly from the base is insane. You know it and I know it, people are losing faith in your command because people are dying under your command. The men are not happy."

Fox said nothing attempting to calm herself down, she had rumours of course. You didn't get to where she was without keeping your ear to the ground. They were still years away from any form of an attempt but she would have to act soon and she needed someone who she trusted someone who could be her inside man. Her eyes rested on Bo, "You fucked up, where the fuck was the kid going to find a shipping manifest? You think they are just going to leave those things lying around? Does the kid have super hacking skills that I'm not aware of?"

"I take full responsibility," Bo said not questioning Fox's sudden change of heart.

Fox shot him a dirty look before standing up, "This is your fault, I don't really care if you want to own up to it or not," walking to the bar at the corner of her room and began making herself a drink. "Give her to Craven. Failure isn't to be tolerated."

"But that isn't..." Bo began.

Fox ignored his weak protests, "I heard that Craven has wanted to get his hands on her, says she'll make a good whore. Of course we all know that Craven likes to sample the product, he probably just wants to get his hands on her," she took a sip of her drink. "He has the most fun breaking in new whores, well the pretty ones. You know—"

"Fox, this is my fault so punish me..."

"That he treats the prettier ones better, she'll get food. Maybe an education, if nothing happens to that pretty face of hers. And she gets no diseases maybe he'll make her an escort; she'll have a good life. She'll choose her own clients, might even get married to a politician, or a businessman. You know how these stories go; she'll live a much easier—"

"The kid is good, you can't let all that raw talent go to waste—"

"Life. That is of course if Craven doesn't break her spirit within the first couples of hours. Nothing a little red sand can't fix though."

"This is my failure not the kids, so punish me instead of her."

Fox smiled at him, "This is your punishment stupid. You're the one who will drop her off at Craven's; you will drag her kicking and screaming if you must to Craven's arms. And don't even think about hiding it if you don't do it I will do it and I will kill you for it. You do not question my orders; you do not give the people different orders. You want to know why the men don't trust me? It's because you keep usurping my command. My word is law, and now you'll remember it. I give the fucking orders around here not you. Next time you forget your place, it will cost you more than the brat. Hell keep on talking and it will cost you considerably more than the brat."

Bo opened his mouth to protest but closed it after a moment, his self preservation kicking in. He stared at the wall his mouth clenched, "When should I do it?"

Fox smiled as she draped herself on one of her couches, "Now would be nice."

Bo bit his tongue for a moment, a brief flash of defiance crossing over his features. "Of course Fox," he stated simply. If he ran with Shepard, then Fox she would hunt them. And just to hurt him she would execute Artemis first before taking her time with him. At least with Craven she would still be alive and he could always purchase time with her to protect her. It would cost him, but at least he would still be protecting her.

"Well then what exactly are you waiting for?" Fox said in a dismissive tone. "Get out and go do what I told you to do."

Artemis froze from where she was walking behind Bo and she slowly began to back away. "Why are we here?" she asked Bo, the fear slowly creeping into her voice. When Bo didn't immediately answer her, she stopped completely. "I don't want to be here," she stated loudly, "Can I wait in the car?" she asked him. She still didn't get a response from Bo and started to head to the car only for him to reach out and grab her by the arm tightly. Artemis struggled for a moment before stopping; there was no way she was breaking free. "Bo?" she asked looking up at him.

"Failure is not tolerated," Bo informed her, his voice was unnaturally cold.

'_The closest people to you, the ones you trust they will be the one to betray you._' Johnny's words rang in her head and Artemis immediately responded trying to break free from Bo's grip. She immediately dug her heels in refusing to take another step, "Please I won't fail, I'll try harder. Please I don't give me to Craven. I promise I'll be good I promise."

Bo ignored her pleas as he dragged her to the door, ignoring the fact that Artemis was still struggling to break away from him. He noticed Craven leaning against the door watching him and he turned away in disgust. The man had always repulsed him, and he certainly didn't want to allow him to get his hooks into Artemis. But he had to do whatever he had to do to survive. "You're useless," he informed her roughly as he pulled her forward pushing her towards Craven.

The sudden change in momentum caused her to trip and she fell and slid towards Craven who had bent down to grab her foot. Artemis twisted lashing out with her free leg snapping which managed to catch Craven in the face. He swore letting go of her and Artemis wasted no time scrambling to her feet to run away. Unfortunately for her Bo wrapped his arms around her picking her up. "Please," she screamed in terror as Bo held onto her.

Craven wiped the blood from his lip; the kid certainly had a strong kick. He smiled; he had always preferred challenges. Artemis would fall in line soon enough. "I've got her," he said as took the screaming, struggling child from Bo. As he held her tightly against his body, he leaned in and whispered in her ear, "We're going to have so much fun kid."

Artemis looked up wildly at Bo who met her gaze for a second before turning around and heading to the car. "Bo please!" but her screams fell on deaf ears as she was pulled inside the building, the door slid closed in front of her, so she could no longer see Bo. She didn't even notice that other children had come out of their rooms and were watching Artemis curiously. But the fact that she had an audience didn't stop her as she continued to struggle even harder and scream louder hoping that Bo would change his mind. That he would come for her.

Craven dumped Artemis unceremoniously onto a dirty old bed as he used his height and weight to keep her pinned down as she continued to struggle. Without hesitation he backhanded her, hard causing her head to snap to the side causing her to stop screaming for a moment. Before she could regain her senses Craven already had two cuffs firmly around her wrists and attached firmly to the metal headboard. He got off her and grabbed one of her legs making sure to hold onto it tightly as he also cuffed that to the footboard. He quickly repeated the process onto her other leg leaving her face first on the bed in a spread eagle position. Taking a step back he admired his work and gave Artemis a quick one over. Bo had done him a solid; she was no longer the sickly child he had remembered; which meant he could fetch a higher price when he finally got around to selling Artemis's body. After a few moments of simply admiring Artemis he began to rip off Artemi's clothes leaving Shepard naked on the bed.

It was at this moment that Artemis realized in absolute horror that Bo wasn't coming for her.


	5. Chapter 5: Love the Way You Lie: Part 1

**A/N: Read and Review  
**

* * *

"This is where I make the vids," Craven announced as they entered a nicely furnished room with at least twenty monitors mounted on the wall. In front of the monitors was sound equipment. "Of course I blur out the faces of our clientele before I distribute, all on the black market of course," he informed Foox eagerly as she entered the room. A look of distaste swept over Fox's face for a second but Craven didn't notice. "You know that my little operation nets the boss about 3 million credits annually?" he boasted in his attempt to impress Fox.

Fox looked around the room; despite the rather nice furniture she was hesitant to take a seat anywhere as there were suspicious looking stains all over the room. He really should have invested in leather. "Was she difficult?" she asked him.

Craven frowned slightly as he looked at the screen where Shepard was still tied face down to the bed. From her bottom of her neck to her ankles were covered in bruises, some were a few days old, others were more recent. There were several circular burn marks on her thighs, where Craven's cigarettes had found Shepard as well as several healing scars. "Breaking her?" he asked Fox for clarification. Fox nodded, "I didn't."

Fox blinked and then smirked, "Losing your touch Craven?" she asked him.

"The kid doesn't respond to pain like the others. She's not scared of the whip, she's not scared of being burnt. Hell I even cut her several times and she didn't seem to notice. She hasn't stopped struggling since Bo dropped her off."

This time a frown crossed Fox's features as she studied Shepard carefully, noting that Artemis barely moving. "How'd you get her so docile then?" she questioned him.

"She hasn't eaten since Bo dropped her off, she of course gets water daily but that's it. The hunger keeps her up most nights. I think she's too weak to move. It's clear she doesn't like it. I figure if I give it another week or so she'll be firmly under my control." Fox nodded making a mental note of what he had said. "I think she's docile enough for our clients. Though some of the clients do prefer a little more...action, the kid has got a pretty strong kick and she'd fight to the point where one of my clients could in theory get hurt."

Fox leaned against a wall still looking at the kid, "How much did it go for?" she asked Craven.

Craven smirked, "50 thousand credits," he said proudly before sighing, "It would have been more if she wasn't so badly beaten but I couldn't take the chance. She hasn't been broken yet. I have no idea how long that is going to take. Though this session might indeed help speed the process up."

Fox nodded as she watched a rather large man enter the room, "That him?" she asked.

Craven nodded gleefully, "He's a regular client, always likes to taste the new talent, and he can certainly afford it."

Fox turned to him as the man began to strip out of his clothes, "Politician?" she asked him.

Craven shook his head, "No he's a business man works for some company or rather."

Fox turned back to the man who was now currently running his hands over Artemis's injured body, ignoring the fact that the child's body had become tense. "So he's not someone particularly important?" Once again Craven shook his head. "Pity." Fox shifted her weight and pushed herself off the wall that she had been leaning against. "Excuse me," she informed Craven as she brushed by him rudely.

Craven looked at her and shrugged; she probably didn't have the stomach for it. He took a seat on one of his couches, his eyes glued onto the man who was running his hands up Artemis's leg. He loved watching new whores getting broken in.

Artemis gritted her teeth tightly as she felt the man's fingers running up her leg, she wouldn't be like that nameless boys from a few months ago, she wouldn't give them the satisfaction of hearing her scream no matter how much it hurt. She wouldn't just lay there and take it like he had she would fight until she couldn't fight anymore even if it was useless due to her limbs being tied down. As soon as the man's hand touched her lower back Artemis began to lash out as much as she could not caring that the cuffs were cutting into her wrists and ankles.

The man for the most part leaned in gently brushing her hair back behind her ear, "Hush little one, don't worry I'll be gentle for your first time," his voice was calming but Artemis continued to struggle she didn't trust this man, and she threw her head back slamming the back of her head into the man's nose. There was crunch as bone met cartilage and the man reeled back in shock. "You stupid bitch," he snarled loudly, ignoring the blood that was leaking from his nose he grabbed his belt pulling it out off roughly. "I was going to be gentle if you had behaved."

Artemis fingers wrapped around the chains tightly letting the cold metal wrap cut into her hands as she held onto them tightly. She could take this type of pain, she had before. It didn't matter that most of her body ached from Craven's earlier attempts to break her. She closed her eyes tightly as she heard the familiar whistle of a belt flying through the air. The belt cracked her right between the shoulder blades and she shuddered but didn't scream, gripping the chains tighter. Another whistle, another crack, this time the tip of the belt curved round finding an untouched area of skin. She jerked but kept her mouth closed. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction. The blows began to rain down faster, giving her no reprieve as the leather dug into her body over and over again.

There was a knocking on the door and the man stopped letting the belt fall to the ground as Artemis opened her eyes hoping that this nightmare would be over "I still have her for the next hour," the man shouted as he took his place in-between Artemis's legs grabbing onto her hair roughly as he got read y to thrust forward.

The door slid open after a split second and Fox entered the room looking bored as two sets of eyes stared at her. "What I knocked?" Fox said as she pulled out her pistol and pointed it at the man.

The man scrambled off immediately, "Fuck the cops?" he said as he pressed himself against the wall struggling to pull on some pants.

Fox kept her pistol trained on him for a second as grabbed one of Artemis's wrists and unlocked it giving her the key which she had stolen from Craven when she had arrived. "Free yourself," she ordered keeping the pistol still trained on the man ignoring Artemis who was struggling to release the rest of her limbs. "And no I'm not the fucking police, I'm just coming back to reclaim what is mine. You know the child that you were just about to defile?" The man struggled to slip on his pants, "She belongs to me."

Artemis finally managed to free herself and rolled herself off the bed struggling to stand up as she crawled and limped towards Fox, there were tears in her eyes as she managed to stand at full height beside Fox, her pale grey eyes focused on the man who had nearly raped her.

Fox glanced at Artemis placing her hand on her shoulder gently, "Should I kill him?" she asked Artemis in a joking manner, as she continued to point her gun lazily at the man.

Artemis studied him for a moment, if she let him go he would just do this to more children like her, "I'll do it."

Fox nearly dropped her pistol she hadn't been expecting that, even the man stared at her in surprise. Fox quickly regained her composure a smile on her face as she pulled the trigger killing the man immediately with a round to the head. "You're still too young," she informed Artemis running a hand through her hair as she had seen Bo do numerous times.

Artemis looked at the corpse in front of her ignoring the fact that her muscles were screaming in agony and looked up at Fox, "I failed," she stated.

Fox looked down at Artemis finally noticing her nakedness and pulled off her jacket placing it on Shepard's shoulders, turning her face slightly to give Artemis the illusion of privacy as she zipped the jacket up to cover herself. "No, Bo failed he gave you conflicting instructions. And after I punished him he goes behind my back to get rid of my protégé. Had I known, you certainly wouldn't have had to endure this for nearly a month."

Artemis looked up at her in surprise, "A month?" she echoed, had it truly been that long. The days had stretched out at times and it felt that she had been in that room for years.

"Did anyone touch you?" Fox asked her, and Artemis shook her head. Fox ran a hand through Shepard's dirty hair.

Artemis was quiet for a moment still staring at the man in front of her. "Thank you," she said finally turning her eyes away from the corpse.

Fox turned to her, "Let's get out of here," there was no hesitation from Artemis as the two left the room. Fox wasn't surprised to see Craven waiting for them outside. She didn't give him the chance to speak instead she shot him in the leg causing the rather hefty man to drop like a rock. The two of them walked by him, Fox pausing to slam her boot into his face knocking him out before leaving the building.

Nothing was said between the two of them until they arrived in Fox's car, "Why did Bo give me to him?" Artemis asked her finally watching as the building fade from her sight.

"Bo plans to overthrow me," Fox informed Artemis, who looked up at Fox confusion evident on her face. "He plans to kill me."

"But he's supposed to keep you happy," Artemis said confused.

"His act against you was a betrayal against me, and he is working with the others in my crew to take my spot as the leader," Fox continued, "This doesn't make me happy."

Artemis looked at her and nodded, "I'll always make you happy," Artemis promised Fox and she meant it, she would do anything for the woman who saved her.

Fox smiled inwardly, "I can't kill them right now, not without proof. If I strike now, the rest of my crew thinks I'm paranoid and jumpy and they will continue to plot against me. If I'm going to strike I need their names, I need to know who exactly is against me. I need to know who to trust kid." Fox paused for a moment and looked at Artemis. "Can I trust you?" she asked.

Artemis nodded quickly, "I will do anything to make you happy. I want to be your protégé."

Fox reached over to pat Artemis on the head, this was too simple. "That's good because I need people who are loyal to me Artemis. I need to know that you won't fail me like Bo has, that you won't turn your back on me. If you can promise me this, I will never betray you and I will never hurt you like Bo did."

Artemis nodded hanging onto every word that Fox said, it was true that she hadn't particularly liked Fox when they had first met. But this woman had saved her from becoming like that nameless boy being raped over and over again. It hadn't been Bo, but then again he had been the one to drag her to Craven not Fox. Fox had rescued her in the nick of time. Fox was a hero, her hero. "You can trust me," Artemis said as forcefully as she could. "I'll do anything you ask." she added.

"And what if I said you needed to go back to living with Bo?" Fox asked. "I need someone I can trust listening to him and the traitors, I need to know just who is plotting against me."

Artemis froze; she was supposed to live with Fox, but she was happy that Fox needed her. That her hero trusted with her life, "I will do anything," Artemis repeated.

A smile lit up Fox's face, "Excellent." And with that she begun to tell Artemis what was expected of her...

_

* * *

Liara looked at Artemis who was watching her plate the food, "She manipulated you," it was an unnecessary statement but Artemis finally looked up. _

"_I was six; I believe it was incredibly easy to manipulate me especially given the situation. From where I was standing Bo had betrayed me and even though Fox was rather rough on me, she had come to save me right in the nick of time." Artemis said with a derisive snort as she took the plate from Liara taking a spoon as she carefully tasted the food under Liara's eye. She chewed her food slowly, letting the flavours spread. She swallowed and looked at Liara who was watching her expectantly, "It's good," she announced with a grin on her face. Liara smiled, happy that Shepard liked it, as she too began to eat. _

_The two ate in silence, Liara thinking about the horrors that had happened to Shepard, while Artemis focused on the food in front of her, in her attempt not to focus on Liara._

"_And what about Bo?" Liara finally asked Artemis as she finished the plate in front of her. Artemis looked at her a confused look on her face and Liara clarified, "Clearly he must have realized that something was wrong. Fox had started paying attention to you, showing you favouritism."_

_Artemis snorted again, "Fox never showed me favouritism until she found out how I could be used which wouldn't be for another five years. Bo on the other hand he was the one manipulated by Fox even more so than I was, he was the one that punished me. If I screwed up he would run me to the ground making sure that I would never make that mistake again. There were times when I wouldn't get food for days at a time, because I hadn't earned my dinner. I wouldn't learn until much later that it was because Fox had ordered it, so she could come in and be my hero. She was always there; I didn't know that she was creating these situations just so she could be the one to resolve it. But one thing is certain she ensured my loyalty." _

"_Bo didn't protect you?" _

"_Bo simply followed orders, I don't know how hard he protested but some of the things that he did to me...he's just as guilty as Fox but for different crimes. It wasn't the last time that Fox would suggest the use of rape to bring me in line. Bo would leave me in situations that no child should be forced to be in, and Fox would watch biding her time for the right moment to save me." Artemis tapped the table, her eyes glazing over for a moment as a swarm of unpleasant memories hitting her. One in particular had left her close to dead before Fox had come in just as they were pulling off her clothes; she had been ten at the time._

_Liara reached out to take her hand breaking Artemis from her dream like state," Were you ever-?" _

_Artemis smiled touched at Liara's concern, "No, Fox saved me and continued to save me until I was no longer a defenceless or at least until people were just as afraid of me as they were of her. Or maybe they were afraid of what Fox would do too them if I informed them," she shrugged attempting to brush it off. There had been one to many close calls throughout her childhood, even several when she was a teenager. It hadn't been until she had gotten sufficiently proficient in her biotics till she felt safe. _

"_Not many people could survive what you went through," Liara said her hand still on Artemis's. She felt that she understood Shepard better now, but then again how much did she really know, she at least understood why Artemis kept everyone at a distance. People seemed to have a habit of betraying her. But that hadn't stopped her from putting her trust in her and rushing to defend her from the crew. Artemis trusted her, even though she seemed to trust everyone on her ship. "How did you become..you?"_

_Artemis laughed, "I'm not some paragon of virtue."_

"_But you are a good person," Liara insisted. _

_Artemis didn't reply to that statement. Liara had only known her for a couple of weeks. "I'm not a hero. And if there is anything that you should take from my story it is that one should be wary of those who come in at the right moment and save you."_

_Liara smiled at Artemis, understanding that she was attempting to push her away, "You're not Fox. You never have been no matter how much she wanted a miniature version of herself." Artemis said nothing a look of surprise on her face as she studied Liara who had gotten up and was clearing the dishes. Nothing else was said as Liara cleaned up, under Artemis's gaze. When she finished with the dishes she looked over at Shepard and smiled "Same time tomorrow?" she asked._

_Artemis nodded watching Liara as she headed back to the sleeper pods, waiting until she was out of sight before getting up, a small smile crossed her face. It had been a long time since someone had seen through that act. She coughed after a second; she was getting ahead of herself. Liara still didn't know the whole story, would she still feel that way even after she had heard all of her sins._

_

* * *

_**A/N: This is the end of the first story arc but don't worry Tenth Street Red is far from being complete I still have 20-25 more chapters in mind. But until then a small hiatus is required I've kinda put off doing several big projects for school and they are due next week...so you won't get an update next week, but you will get one the week after. And for those of you reading Psychobabble (other fic), you might have to wait two weeks because I haven't exactly finished the chapter (it's shit so I'm rewriting it), however there will be a double update that week for Psychobabble if I don't manage to post one this week.**_  
_


	6. Chapter 6: Falls Apart: Part 2

_**A/N: Hmm this chapter is so much shorter than the others and for that I apologize, but to be fair my computer has decided to quit on me and half the stupid chapter got lost, stupid laptop. Which is bad because it won't be fixed until after exams are done which means that all my stories are on hiatus till after...January 18...but the good news is I'll be working on both of my stories so that I'll have a buffer so you'll get more updates...more frequently until the buffer is finished. I only do this because I have to study for exams. So yeah...Hiatus but I still will be writing so on my last exam I will post updates for both stories...or at least I'll try to. **_

* * *

"_Skipper are you insane? Your shield was down, you can't go throwing your life away," Ashley said ripping into Artemis who was being treated by Chakwas. "And she wouldn't let us treat it right there she insisted that we continue and fight the Thorian." This one was directed at Chakwas who was currently giving Artemis a disproving look as she treated the gunshot wound to Shepard's deltoid muscle. _

_The door to Liara's room slid open and Liara stepped out to investigate what the noise was about. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the fact that Artemis was currently topless while Chakwas worked on her arm. "Are you alright?" it was a silly question and Artemis turned to look at her, an amused smile on her face. _

_Artemis snorted, "Despite what Ashley believes I'll be fine it was just a small flesh wound," she said dismissively. She looked at Ashley, "I've been shot before, can't let something that's not lethal distract me from the mission." _

"_And how were you to know it wasn't a lethal shot," Ashley challenged her._

"_Judging from the scar tissue she's been shot there before," Chakwas answered for her as she began to apply the medi-gel to Artemis's wounds._

_Artemis shifted sitting allowing Liara and Ashley a better view of her scars and tattoos that littered her body and stomach. There were a few other gunshot wounds on Artemis's abdomen and a particularly nasty looking knife wound on the side of her abdomen, but it was covered over by a tattoo. "I'll be fine," she repeated again with a dismissive wave of her hand. "It's not like I haven't been shot before." _

_Liara studied Shepard, it was the first time she had seen Artemis topless and she found her thoughts shifting from a professional, scientific look to something slightly more intimate and she struggled to keep her face neutral and blush free. The last thing that she wanted was Artemis to start feeling uncomfortable around her. But it was exceptionally difficult to keep her mind clean, as she looked at Artemis's well defined form studying the many tattoos and faded scars. She was sure there was a story for each one. One particular one kept drawing her attention, what she could only imagine was a flower that was found on Earth. Xeno-botany was not one of her fields but she did appreciate the aesthetic beauty that flowers provided._

"_There, I don't need to remind you that you need to take it easy commander, at least until the wound finishes healing." Chakwas informed Artemis, giving her a stern look. She knew it would do little to actually get Shepard to change her behaviour but one could hope._

_Artemis immediately shifted standing up and pulling her shirt her back to Liara who blushed and looked away, she had been staring once again, something that was a regular occurrence these days. For once Artemis hadn't noticed or if she had she hadn't said anything. "Will there be a mission debriefing?" she asked Artemis her eyes still averted. _

_Artemis nodded and looked over at Ashley, "Since you rushed me to Chakwas I didn't have time to inform the squad, gather everyone in the comm. room. I'll be there in a little while. I still need to actually do the report and send it off to the Council so they can call and I can pretend to lose the signal. " Ashley saluted Artemis who rolled her eyes, and left the med bay. She looked over at Liara noticing the look on her face._

"_The flower on your back, what is it?" Liara blurted._

_Artemis motioned for Liara to follow her, "It's a rose, a popular flower back on earth. There are different colors, each color means something different in our culture. A red rose is the most common one, they are generally given in a declaration of love, and it's a rather romantic gesture."_

"_Black is the symbol of death in your culture is it not?" Liara asked._

_Artemis frowned slightly, debating inwardly on whether she was willing to share, she nodded in response to Liara's question. It was her first tattoo done at what she thought was the end of a chapter in her life. It wasn't, "It's a long complicated story," she answered honestly. "I did some terrible things, which took me longer than I would like to care to admit to learn from. Who I am now hates who I was."_

_Liara wanted to reach over and hold Artemis who broke away from her and begun to write the report, her fingers flying over the holographic interface. It was a difficult subject for her to broach, "You don't have to push yourself to tell me Shepard." _

"_I don't know where to start, it's complicated, I mean I was spying on Bo and the rest of the crew since Fox rescued me, but wars take a long to start, they just don't happen overnight. Tensions had been high for a rather long time and both of them were gathering forces. Unfortunately the spark didn't actually happen until I was 12 a few days before I turned 13 actually." _

"_What happened?" Liara asked her the curiosity evident in her voice._

_Artemis shrugged wincing a bit, "I was shot," she said dismissively as if it were a regular occurrence. It might have been the first time she had been shot, but had certainly not been the last. "I took a bullet for Fox, I saw the man to late and he already had the shot lined up. I stepped in front of Fox, without thinking and the next thing I knew I was in a world of pain and on the ground, Bo was shouting at me, Fox was dragging me to my feet. And all I can remember that there was a burning pain in my shoulder, and Fox telling me to put pressure on it."_

"_But why would that start the war? Clearly you were on a mission this was bound to happen."_

"_Bo saw the shooter before I did, he had a clear shot as well. He was planning to make it look like an accident, but he was to distracted and constantly shifting his gaze to the man, I picked up on it. I got shot..."_

"Shepard," Fox said looking at the pre-teen sitting there with a magazine her legs crossed.

* * *

She had come a long way from the scared six year old girl, who had nearly gotten herself raped years, the years of near misses, the starvation, the beatings had only hardened her. And her pale eyes told the untold story of the horrors of her childhood which hadn't yet ended. And even though she was only a child of twelve, her innocence had long been shattered. She had seen things that no child should have seen, she had been put in situations that no one should have ever been put in. And yet she had survived against all odds, she had thrived getting better, adapting to every new situation. In 5 years she was no longer a rookie and was no longer used as reconnaissance, people didn't see her as a dumb kid anymore who knew nothing, and unfortunately for her she had a face that people remembered.

Artemis looked up at her mentor, her pale eyes studying her for a moment to try and figure out what mood Fox was in. Her left arm was in a sling from where she had taken a round for Fox on their latest mission. It had been a success; she had taken the shot that had been meant for Fox before Bo had killed the man. It had hurt like hell to be shot but she would have done anything to protect Fox. "Fox?" she asked.

Fox looked at Artemis's arm wondering if that was Bo making a play on her life, had that round connected it would have been fatal. Shepard had seen the shot before he had pulled the trigger and had already stepped to take the round for her. It never ceased to amaze her at how rapidly Shepard was growing and Bo had made an offhanded comment that there was a chance that in the next few years Shepard would have surpassed her. "Is Bo making his play after all these years?" she asked her.

Artemis frowned slightly; Fox was the least patient person she knew. And this game of cat and mouse had been going on for a few years with her in the middle. But Bo had been too careful, as the years passed and Fox started taking more of an interest in her life, Bo had become more and more distant putting a barrier around the two of them. Of course this distance could have resulted from the fact that she was being punished more and more often these days, even for things that she had no control off. But even in all those years, she had never actually seen, let alone hear Bo mention betraying Fox. Well that was until the mission, he had seen the shooter before she had and he still hadn't taken the shot. "He saw the bastard before me," Artemis answered honestly.

Amber eyes met pale bluish grey ones, ank d a frown graced Fox's features, so he had attempted to make it look like an accident, "And you had no idea that he was going to make his move last week?"

Artemis closed the magazine and placed it on her lap, "He doesn't trust me, and he hasn't for the past two years. And I can no longer pretend to be the naive child anymore so spying on the crew is considerably harder. What I can tell you is that Bo has most definitely been making alliances, not only within in the crew but with other lieutenants as well. I've walked in on meetings with him and Johnny, Craven, Salvatore, Stringer, most of the lieutenants in the central division. This isn't some small power play; this has been building for a while Fox. He wants you dead Fox, and he's doing everything to make sure that you don't walk out of this. "

Fox got up to make herself a drink; as soon as Artemis had informed her that Bo was meeting with other lieutenants she had begun to shore up her support. Of course this left them in a precarious position, there would probably be an internal civil war, and she would have to be careful if she wanted to use this to her advantage and move up in the Reds. She looked over at Artemis who was still watching her, she had kept the kid in the dark for most of this, "And what would you suggest?" Artemis had proven herself to be invaluable at times when it came to planning.

A brief smile pulled at Artemis's lips, proud that Fox valued her opinion and skills that she was useful to Fox, "Smoke them out," she answered, "Right now they are in hiding right in front of you and you don't know who you can trust and who wants to put a knife in your back. Instead of waiting for them to make the first real move, you make it and you control the situation. It'll surprise them and you can start picking them off as they try and regroup."

Fox turned to Shepard with her drink in her hand, "And how would I do that?" Her reading of the situation, even not knowing all the facts was impressive, she would be a dangerous enemy or a powerful ally if she wasn't carefully controlled. She was hoping to keep Shepard as her ally, until a time came where she was no longer useful or posed a threat to her position.

Artemis looked at Fox, "Let them think they made the first move," she answered smoothly. "What they want is you gone so that they can take your position, so let them think they've achieved their goal, let them think they've won."

Fox was quiet mulling over the details in her head; it was doable she had enough people on her side who would make faking her death a breeze. But she would need someone who she trusted to be the one to pull the trigger. She studied Artemis for a second; the child had taken a bullet for her without a moment's hesitation, which had probably saved her life. Bo had insisted that they keep Artemis's innocence for as long as possible, though she was more than proficient with pistols, she had yet to kill anybody. Fox had agreed with him, simply because the thought of an twelve year old with a gun spelled disaster for her. But maybe it was time, a kill that would make her a legend. "Do you want to kill me?"

A look of surprise and horror crossed Artemis's at Fox's suggestion, which caused a smile to appear on Fox's face. "Are you insane?" she asked.

Fox ran a hand through Artemis's hair messing it up an action which still caused her to scowl. "Clearly; as I'm placing my trust in a twelve year old to help me fake my death." Fox studied Artemis's face and noticed the apprehension on her face, "I need someone that I can trust, that I know only has my best interests at heart and I trust you Shepard, completely."

Artemis frowned slightly she didn't want to be the one to do this, she would never hurt Fox and nearly everyone knew where her allegiances lay. The constant, 'Fox did this and Fox did that' didn't exactly help to show her case. "No one will believe that I would betray you. And I haven't...well I haven't...killed anyone yet. The crew doesn't believe I have it in me."

Fox snorted, it was true that everyone teased Shepard mercilessly at times about how she hadn't yet killed anyone yet, but none of them doubted that she would have trouble pulling the trigger. Salvatore, the boss's enforcer and personal assassin, had offered to take Shepard off her hands saying that she would make an excellent soldier. The problem wasn't that they weren't afraid that Shepard could pull the trigger it was more like everyone was afraid that she wouldn't be able to stop. Fox wasn't one of those people; the kid had shown remarkable self control. "Well let's give you a reason to hate me then," Fox stated.

Artemis nodded a fake scenario, "Make it as real as possible, I'm willing to do anything." She trusted Fox, implicitly and would put her body as well as her pride on the line for her, anything that would save Fox who had always saved her before.

Fox placed a hand on Sheppard's cheek suddenly realizing a flaw in her plan, if Bo was the one to rescue her then he would tell Shepard of all the times that she had ordered Artemis to be punished. "You know I would never hurt you right Shepard? I'm only doing this because I have no other choice."

Artemis frowned slightly of course she knew that, this was Fox the person who had saved her so many times before, "I know you wouldn't Fox."

Fox smiled as she gently stroked Artemis's cheek, with her thumb gently brushing the few strands of auburn hair out of Artemis's face. "Bo will say anything and do anything to get you on his side. He might even tell you that it was I who gave the order that you should be punished, that it was I who gave you to Craven when the truth of the matter is I had no idea you were gone till I came to see how you were progressing." Fox's voice was comforting, a tone she only took with Artemis.

"Bo is not to be trusted," Artemis said with vigour looking into Fox's eyes for approval.

Fox's inward grin only got bigger as she gave Artemis her most tender and endearing look, "Exactly my protégé, but soon enough you will be free of him, no more of his lies, no more of his inhumane punishments."

The thought that she would never again feel the pain of hunger, that had kept her up for many nights, or the fact that she would never be beaten until she couldn't move, or nearly raped time and time again. Artemis rubbed her arm, they had been to close last time, she had fought so hard but they had still overpowered her, she shook the thoughts out of her head. Fox had saved her once again. It hadn't been the broken ribs, or the internal bleeding that had caused Artemis the most grief, it had been Fox's disappointment that even after all these years she still couldn't defend herself, that she was still weak. It had only pushed her to be stronger, to be better to prove to Fox that she wasn't weak. "And it will keep you safe," Artemis said her voice filled with conviction.

* * *

"_You loved her," Liara stated._

_Artemis was quiet as she finished her report sending it off to the Council and she looked at Liara, "I did," she finally replied. "But that is a story for another time." She stood up looking at the chronometer, "Time for a mission debrief, we'll finish this story another time."_


	7. Chapter 7: To be Loved

**A/N: ****Happy holidays, I tried to do a holiday themed one shot to at least give you something to tide you over till my exams were done but I'm not very good at the whole holiday cheer so it didn't exactly translate well into paper. Anyway enjoy this chapter of the Reds, and this chapter in Artemis's life is quickly coming to an end. Anywho there might be an interlude before I actually go into Artemis's teenage years which I've been dying to start writing since I began, the angst, the sex, the violence and of course there will be something...love. Meh now here is the chapter, think of reviews as presents so review people  
**

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The Anvil had always been Fox's favourite place, an underground fight club which at times was more like gladiatorial games. It wasn't uncommon to have people dying in the most gruesome way possible. She had seen more than one person beheaded; she personally didn't have it in her to cut off someone's head. It seemed rather messy when strangulation was just as effective with so much less blood. She had cemented her status on the streets in the Anvil back when she was younger. She had left a stack of bodies that had been discretely gotten rid off. Now every now and again she would indulge herself when she was in need of credits, or she simply craved the violence.

"You know she's not ready for this," Bo hissed at her.

Fox rolled her eyes, "You worry too much I was only a bit older than her when I fought in the Anvil, she'll be fine." Her tone was dismissive something that had now been commonplace when it came to dealing with Bo. The tension between the two was palpable at most times, but it had been an unspoken agreement that they keep a unified face in front of the rest of crew. The only person who had any semblance of an idea of how bad their relationship had become was Artemis. She turned to the bookie. "Ten thousand credits on Artemis," she stated.

A strangled look appeared on Bo's face, ten thousand credits was a lot of money, of course considering that the odds were stacked against Artemis so Fox was clearly hoping for a massive payout. "And if she loses?" he finally managed.

Fox eyes went cold though there was a smile on her face, "Well then I'd have to think of some suitable punishment, if she survives that is," Fox found an empty table and motioned for the server. She was taking a massive risk, even though the man that Shepard would be fighting had been paid off, accidents happened Artemis risked losing a limb or worse she could be killed. She was expecting Bo to step in to save Artemis, in fact if he didn't she would order him to do it.

Bo bit back a string of insults, Fox thought she knew Shepard because she spent a few hours a week with her. She knew next to nothing about Shepard, he knew she wasn't ready for this; she wasn't ready to be a killer no matter how much Fox believed that she was ready. She was a good kid who didn't need to be a killer that was one thing that he wouldn't allow her to be not as long as he was still living. "She's not a murderer," he stated once again trying to dissuade Fox from what he believed to be a rather crazy idea.

Fox looked at him studying him for a moment, "No she's not," she agreed. "But she is going to have to pull that trigger one day; in the world we live in she will need to kill to defend herself, to live. She knows how to handle weapons, if she hesitates. Even for a fraction of a second, she will be dead. This world is kill or be killed, and we are not doing any favours by babying her."

"We both know she does not belong in this world, she is not a killer. At best she's a thief, and not a particularly good one, so why are we attempting to make her carry this burden?" Bo demanded.

Fox looked at him, but didn't say anything for a minute. "Because she is carrying the burden, she will never be a normal child it's about 6 years too late for that. She's not going to grow up to be a doctor, or a politician or some shit like that. All that raw skill, the brat is a fighter and a survivor; she is strong enough to carry this burden. And what's most important is she wants to carry this burden, it is her choice and her life." She could still remember that face etched on Artemis's face at six years old, the expression of hot rage tempered shone in her eyes while her face was cold and impassive, her tone turbulent with both as she willingly offered to pull the trigger. The look had caused her heart to skip a beat and the only reason she had denied Artemis the request was because the man was a nothing, he wasn't even worth the bullet she had pumped into his skull.

"She has no idea what she's asking for, twenty years down the line if she even lives that long when she's plagued by nightmares and is dependent on alcohol or the sand and she's looking back at her life do you honestly think that she will thank us for forcing this burden on her?"

"We're giving her skills, what she chooses do with her life is her own, but as of right now she's a Red, who knows what the future holds, for all we know it could be her destiny to be a big Alliance hero flying round the galaxy in an attempt to save it. Bet she'd be glad for her skills then."

Bo opened his mouth to protest before closing it, this argument was pointless no matter what he said Shepard would end up fighting in this and chances were she would end up dying not of old age but because of Fox's stupidity. He should have acted sooner so much sooner before it had come to this, before Artemis had been brainwashed by Fox. It was only the fact that Fox wasn't raising her that kept Artemis relatively normal, but Fox's personality was bleeding into Artemis's, and like a parasite it had taken hold. If he didn't act soon then Artemis would simply become Fox's clone and she was better than that.

Fox looked at the server and ordered two drinks, "I hear that you've been busy lately gathering allies," she stated when the server returned for her drinks. She pushed the beer to him as she turned her attention to the steel cage where a fight had started, the two combatants feeling each other out. "Salvatore, Johnny, Craven, Stringer, Roach, hell every lieutenant in the central division, you certainly are talking with the big guns aren't you." Fox looked at him, "You must really want me dead."

Bo frowned as he took the beer that had been offered to him, "So you're going to kill me now?"

Fox let out a small laugh, "If I wanted to kill you I would have done so as soon as you started this foolish plan. But I used this opportunity to see who my friends were, my real friends." She looked at Bo out of the corner of her eye, "What happened to us? Out of all the people who I thought would betray me, you were never on the list."

"We aren't children anymore Fox, and you are not the same person that once upon a time I would follow into hell. But I cannot in all good conscience allow you to mould Artemis into what you think she should be. Artemis will surpass you now before she become an adult, but I'm going to make sure it's only in skill. I don't want her to become your clone though, to be nothing more than a manipulative bitch who gets off on seeing just how far she can push people before they break."

Fox was quiet for a moment taking a sip of her drink, "We both know how this will play out you will try a power play but I will come out on top. I always come out on top."

"It was my brain that made sure that you came on top," Bo said looking at her his eyes focusing on Fox.

"Quit while you're ahead and you'll probably still be alive in the next ten years, I will be forced to either kill you or have you killed if you decide to continue this stupidity. You can't win not against me."

Bo said nothing instead looking at the cage where they were pulling away a dead body and cleaning the ring. "She's up next; I do hope you know what you're doing."

Fox looked at him, "You've always underestimated me, I suggest for your sake that you don't underestimate me when you finally do make your play."

"I think it is you who is underestimating me," Bo replied as Artemis walked into the ring her eyes searching the crowd for them. He waved catching her attention and shot her a warm encouraging smile.

Fox merely shrugged and nodded at Artemis who grinned at them, there was confidence in the smile and perhaps a bit of arrogance something that she had picked up from Fox. Her eyes slid over to Bo and she waved at him the grin hadn't wavered as she turned around ready to fight.

The punch had come out of nowhere slamming a rather large meaty fist into her face, and breaking her nose sending her flying off her feet and onto her back. Pain ran through her body and she wasn't sure which one had hurt more, the dull crunch of the cartilage breaking or the feeling of the back of her skull slamming against the hard ground. She hadn't exactly been winning but she had managed to hold her own for a few minutes much to the chagrin of everybody within the audience. She had been in moderate control; she had controlled the pace of the fight. However this was only her first time in the ring and her opponent was the hardened veteran, who had merely bided his time, waiting for the opening, to regain control of the fight.

And currently he had regained control off the fight, as Artemis pushed herself to her feet still slightly dazed at the blow, blood pouring down her nose, his fist quickly found her gut causing Artemis to double over. He reached down grabbing Artemis's hair as he snapped his knee up slamming it into Artemis face, watching as blood splashed over his bare knee. He now had control of the fight, as he allowed Artemis to reel back from the blow his own arm lashing out giving her a backhanded slap.

Artemis dropped to the ground gasping for air, her hair which had been its usual tight pony-tail had come undone, and her hair framed her face masking the pain on her face. She had most certainly had worse beatings in her life, but she was not invincible, pain still hurt, she still needed oxygen to breathe and for her muscles to work. But despite all the pain that she was in she still managed to push herself up, only to be met with a violent kick to the ribs, causing her to stagger into the cage, which was the only thing that was currently holding her up. Before he could attack again she shifted making sure that her back was on the cage as she quickly put her arms up to protect her face. Unfortunately for her she had misjudged as his foot came crashing into her knee-cap causing her patella to be pushed back and she dropped to the ground as her leg gave out, her arms dropping. A quick right hand caused Artemis to drop to the ground, her vision blurring, as her body convulsed under the stomping that she was receiving to her midsection. Each blow forcing air out of her lungs and causing her to cough attempting to gasp for air.

The blows stopped raining down for a moment and Artemis immediately tried to get herself up to crawl away. The screaming from the audience had become louder, something about weapons. She was sure she heard Fox's voice urging her to get up, or maybe it was Bo's voice, her mind was fuzzy with pain and lack of oxygen. The only thing that she could make out was shadows and she saw a vague shadow to her side as she struggled to move, but her body wasn't having any of it as the muscles in her arms gave out.

The crowd wanted her to beg, to scream for mercy and it was clear he simply wanted to punish Artemis for even thinking that she was ready of entering the cage, to think she was ready for this blood sport. He looked at the weapons that he could use, most of them were too lethal and he shot a look over at Fox, she was paying him to not kill the kid just mess her up a bit. This of course took away most of the weapons that he was being offered, he found a bullwhip that had pieces of metal woven into the whip and picked it up. "Perfect," he stated turning back to Artemis who was attempting to used the cage to pull herself to standing position. He didn't hesitate to strike out with the whip listening as it cracked against her back tearing through her skin causing her body to convulse, arching up as her body tensed. He didn't hesitate to repeat, as blows rained down on Artemis's back , blood splashing all over the ring. Artemis's body contorted violently in the ring.

After the twentieth blow rained down on Artemis's back Fox finally decided that this would be the perfect time to step in, as she left the spectators seat with amazing speed. With little effort she jumped the cage and grabbed the man's wrist tightly, "You do realize that is my protégé that you're beating on," her voice was loud and a hush fell upon the makeshift arena. She had to give Artemis credit she had actually put on a decent fight until she had been caught off guard, had it been another rookie that she was facing this fight would have gone quite differently. She quickly forced the whip out of his hand. She walked towards Artemis and nudged her shoulder gently with her foot, "Get up," she ordered coldly,

Artemis looked up at Fox from where she was laying in a pool of her blood, even though she could barely open her eyes, she attempted to answer Fox, however the only thing that came out from her cracked swollen lips was a whimper as she once again attempted to push herself up. Her body didn't respond once again but she managed to push her head up ignoring the pain that radiated to every part of her body.

"Get up Shepard," Fox ordered again nudging Artemis again harder. Nothing happened as Artemis attempted once more to stand up, and yet her body refused to cooperate, well that was until she noticed the man picking up his whip and aiming to take Fox out. She couldn't even remember standing up, she also couldn't remember taking a step in front of Fox, who was surprised by the speed Shepard had moved to stand in front of her letting the whip cut into her chest, tearing through what was left of her shirt and digging into her flesh.

Fox had taken a step back allowing Shepard to take the brunt of the blow, she half-expected Artemis to buckle or cry out but she didn't she just stood there her body in front of Fox once again using her body as a shield. Fox's eyes softened for a moment before she snapped to her old self, "This fight is over," she announced pulling out her pistol and shooting Shepard's opponent between the eyes, dropping him. Johnny had been right there was something special weird about this child, it was clear that she had done her job properly. To say that Artemis was fiercely loyal would still be a gross understatement. She doubted that Shepard was even fully conscious at this moment; she would be terrifying when she was older if she continued to push her forward. No she wouldn't be like Bo who wanted to hold her back. She turned her attention back to Artemis, "It's over," she informed her in a disinterested tone.

As soon as she uttered those words Artemis's legs gave out from under her and she crumbled to the ground, finally out like a light. She had expanded all her stores of energy having given the last of her energy to protect Fox.

Fox looked down at her feet for a moment before looking up and looking at Bo who had grabbed as many medi-gels as he could find and was rushing to help Artemis. She watched with feigned disinterest as Bo began to work on Artemis. She had endured like she had asked, and she almost felt guilty that after such a performance that Sheparda would once again be punished, that she would be forced to punish her for a loss, a loss that she had of course engineered but it was still a loss. "When she's awake make sure to clean her up and bring her back to my place. Losing isn't tolerable, especially when it's my money on the line." She glanced over at Artemis one more time, before leaving the cage.

_

* * *

Artemis looked at Liara who looked somewhat horrified at the brutality that she had just described and she looked away slightly embarrassed, now that she thought about it, she sounded like a barbarian. But at the time she didn't know any better, it was not like she ever enjoyed the gladiatorial battles. She only did it if she needed easy credits, or if Fox asked her to do it. She never did it to have fun, she hadn't understood why Fox had liked the killing aspect of The Anvil so much. _

"_How many times did you fight there?" Liara asked._

_Artemis was lost in thought for a moment, "That was the only time I was so utterly beaten, every other time I won. I never took pleasure in torturing my opponents, though I certainly knew how to cause as much pain as possible without killing someone." _

_Liara touched Artemis's hand, "You didn't answer the question, how many times did you fight like this?"_

_Artemis frowned slightly, "From the time I was 12 to the time I was 17, I took part in about thirty fights. Out of which I killed about twenty-five of them," Artemis answered honestly. "In the Anvil it was kill or be killed, and I needed to eat to survive. Were there other options, for someone of my age? Probably if I was someone else and those choices were offered to me maybe I would have done the right thing. But they weren't offered, and for me this was the norm, and my life was exciting."_

"_Did you enjoy the killing, at least the taking of another life," Liara asked her attempting to understand Shepard's mindset a bit better._

_Artemis studied Liara for a second looking for any sign that she was judging her, but there was none and she sighed, "I am indifferent to it, it does not give me pleasure nor does it cause me grief to take a life. It was survival of the fittest. It's no different now; I will stop Saren before he can kill me and destroy everything that I hold dear. It's true that the people who I kill may indeed be a father or a mother, or even a son or a daughter, but they are trying to kill me and I will not stand around and let them get a free shot." She was quiet once she had finished talking and looked at Liara, "And what do you think? Am I some barbarian, or am I simply evil."_

_Liara was silent for a moment carefully thinking over what she would say so that she would not offend Artemis, "You are neither, above everything else we all want to live, and you managed to escape that life to become who you are today. You may have done something's which many would consider immoral but they are not in your shoes. But how did you manage to turn out as well as you did? I have seen you show compassion when none was needed, when you spared Shiala, you didn't have to. You could have easily killed her; she did attempt to kill you."_

"_No her clones attempted to kill me, and she gave me the cipher. Shiala was a slave being used by the Thorian, there was no free will involved," Artemis looked at her, she wasn't Fox not any more. She didn't need to kill to show people just how good she was. She intended to keep the death toll to a minimum, even though she had lost count of the bodies a long time ago. "She wanted to seek penance, I of all people can understand that." _

"_Commander—"_

"_Artemis, call me Artemis," Artemis interrupted her, they were long past a simple Commander and crew relationship, they were friends at least she hoped they were. She wasn't the first person to care about her but it had been so long, too long, since she had connected with anyone else. Had it really been this long since she had trusted someone enough to basically give her the keys through the defences around her heart? But Liara was not Fox and she had proven her trustworthiness, she would never betray her._

_Liara smiled delighted that she was now on a first name basis with Shepard, "Artemis pennance is for people who have done something terrible, no one can fault you for surviving against all odds. You could have easily have gunned down those people on Feros, but you didn't you took a much more difficult path and they were actually trying to kill you. I think you sell yourself short about how much you've changed."_

"_I gave it considerable consideration though; it certainly would have been a lot easier," she looked at Liara._

"_Artemis you've changed, I never said you were a new person, I'm sure years ago you wouldn't have even considered taking a slightly more difficult road to complete your mission."_

_Artemis looked away, she was right of course. Unfortunately for her she was still debating whether mercy was a sign of weakness or not. _


	8. Chapter 8: Blackbird

**A/N: Here is a warning, there is torture ahead. There will be torture in other chapters but nothing as detailed as this. This arc is nearly done maybe four more chapters left (hasn't written them yet but has them planned out), there will be an interlude after this arc is finished and then I will begin the series of events leading up to Artemis joining the Alliance instead of staying in the Reds, the build up is nearly done and the reveal where Artemis hears the truth about Fox is coming a lot sooner than you think. There are a lot of things coming up and I've given plenty of hints as to what's coming up. Anyway you know the drill read and review and I post faster, or well I'll write faster posting is still once a week...ish. **

* * *

Fox looked at Artemis's currently naked unconscious body and her handiwork; she tested the rusted chains that were currently digging into Artemis's wrists. She ran her hand through Shepard's hair before going to the control panel watching as Artemis was raised to a standing position her arms raised above her head and her shoulders supporting her weight. Walking over to Artemis she tested her restraints before grabbing a bucket of cold water mixed with olive oil and throwing it over Artemis causing her to jerk awake.

Artemis's eyes fluttered open and she immediately noticed the strain in her shoulder joints as her pale grey eyes scanned the room that she was in. She knew exactly where she was, she had frequented this place with the Red's enforcers and occasionally some of the lieutenants. She had learned quickly that everyone had their own way of extracting information. She had been ten when she began to frequent the old abandoned slaughterhouse she had watched as Victor, one of Fox's favourite enforcers, systematically broke people down. Some of the _interrogations _were brutal, with fingernails being ripped off, fingers being broken, using hot irons, whips, rape was utilised on occasions, as was maiming. Bo preferred a more psychological approach to his interrogations, but he wasn't above using physical force and Fox...well she had never witnessed Fox interrogating someone.

This wasn't even an interrogation, though the concept was the same, Fox had warned her that she wouldn't hold back and Artemis had sworn she wouldn't hold it against her; this was necessary to catch the traitors. They had planned this and she had offered to take whatever came in The Anvil including the risks, she would take whatever Fox threw at her and she would forgive her. Her job was no longer as simple as keep Fox happy, it was keep Fox safe damn the consequences, Fox had always saved her even in the Anvil, it hadn't been Bo rushing to her rescue it had been Fox.

"Scared?" Fox asked her breaking her out of her thoughts and causing Artemis to look up at her. It was a rhetorical question; she had made sure through many of the years that the fear had been beaten out of her years ago, or if that hadn't worked she had made sure that Artemis either buried her fear so deeply that it was like it had never existed or she was simply able to work through the fear. No there was confidence, something uncommon in children of her age, there had been confidence earlier and she had nearly gotten killed. For someone who made it her business to read people to predict their thoughts and actions she had a harder time reading Artemis.

"Should I be?" The confidence was back in her words, as Artemis met Fox's eyes. It was false, she had learned to hide the fear, and it was a weakness that she could no longer afford. And she still remembered Johnny's words from all those years ago, _'__Screaming though...she likes that.'_

It only took a second for Fox to regain her footing, slightly taken aback by the confidence that Artemis displayed. She should have paid closer attention to the what exactly Bo had been teaching her, "Ten thousand credits is how much I lost betting on you," she informed Artemis.

Artemis blinked, whatever she earned Bo saved for her, she was sure she had a few thousand credits somewhere, according to him gambling was stupid and she had to agree, ten thousand credits was a lot of money that could have been put to better use. She was aware that Fox enjoyed the gambling but ten thousand credits on a fight that was fixed, seemed moronic to Artemis. Even if she needed to put credits down, 500 was slightly more reasonable than the ten grand. "If this is only about money, I can do a few missions, maybe work for Johnny for a few days earn the credits and pay you back." Artemis looked at Fox, "Besides it's not my fault, no one asked you to bet ten thousand credits on me," she reprimanded Fox.

Fox frowned; she had heard this line o f reasoning from Bo before, and despite the fact that Artemis was loyal to her Bo still had his hands on the puppet strings, she would need to do something drastic to make sure she didn't turn up like Bo. "But I did, people do not have much faith in you. Most see you as a weak spoiled brat, who needs me to come bail you out. This, this was supposed to be your coming out party and it would be terrible for me to not show my support in the fullest. I bet on you because I am not Bo, I had faith that you would win, and once again you showed flashes of brilliances when you fought. But this is all secondary, to the real reason you are here."

Artemis was quiet, it was strange hearing that Bo didn't believe in her, though she no longer trusted the man, he truly did believe that she could do anything. To hear Fox telling her that he had doubted her bothered her, there had been no way that she would have won that fight even if the fight was fixed, but she had sort of wanted to hear him cheering her on. Her eyes turned cold, she was used to this, he had probably pushed for her to be taken to the warehouse of all places. Artemis looked up at Fox, if Bo wasn't trying to kill her she wouldn't even be in this position. "Failure is not tolerated," she answered Fox her tone sullen. Fox gently placed her hand on Artemis's cheek gently stroking it with her thumb causing Artemis to look at her in the eye. This was not motherly affection this was probably Fox's way of apologizing, Artemis nodded at her slowly and Fox pulled away.

Fox pulled away from Artemis her eyes cold, "You've watched Victor works haven't you? His work is messy, if anything it's amateur at best. I only use him because I don't have time to indulge as often as I'd like. Blood everywhere, broken limbs, it's a terrible and what's worse it's extremely difficult to clean up after. Personally I prefer other methods, I don't like to get my hands dirty after all but your tolerance for pain, I have to wonder what you went through to be able to take a bullet at this age. To get up after getting your ass kicked for about five minutes, I watched you getting your back torn up and yet you didn't scream and beg for mercy like many in your position would. So the question of the day is how much pain can you take," with that Fox began to set out the tools that she planned to use.

Artemis eyes focused on the tools that Fox was displaying thin long needles, nothing that looked particularly lethal and nothing looked like something that would cause her an ungodly amount of pain. If anything they looked like oversized acupuncture needles. "Are you serious?" she blurted out causing Fox to look at her.

Fox eyes studied Artemis for a second, amber eyes met grey ones, before a smile appeared on her face, "You of all people should know Shepard that appearances can be more than deceiving," she informed picking up a glass and pouring a reddish liquid into from a bottle, it was merely a thimbleful as she screwed the cap back on and placed the bottle back in. "I do know what I'm doing," she said picking up a needle and dipping into the glass and walking up slowly to Shepard as she ran her hand over Artemis's bare shoulder, stopping at the base of her neck. Without another she dug two of her fingers into the muscle hard. The only indication that Artemis was in any form of discomfort was the increased intake of breath.

There wasn't a moment's hesitation as Fox slowly slid the needle into the base of Artemis's neck, which was rewarded with a small grunt of pain from Artemis. Fox smiled and took a step back studying Artemis as she looked curiously at the needle that was sticking out of her body. Fox pulled away from Artemis and began to set up what seemed to be a power kit, she took a lead and attached it to the needle that was jutting out of Artemis's neck. Her hand hovered over the switch for a second before she switched t on.

Artemis blinked, she had felt the surge of electricity, flowing into her body but t certainly painful f anything if given time the sensations could be pleasant. Artemis turned to Fox who already had a few leads and needles to continue the process, "This is it?" she asked. She inhaled sharply when Fox added another needle to the other side of her neck which already had a current running through it. The only positive to this was that her shoulder joint was no longer sore, there was also a weird sensation in her arms that felt like a buzzing but she ignored it.

Fox let out a short laugh and turned to Artemis, "You were always so eager, except one should wonder why you are eager for the pain that I assure you is coming. Are you a masochist Shepard?" Artemis blinked not knowing that word and Fox sighed, "We have all night Artemis before I return you Bo, trust me the pain will come soon enough, as soon as I start you're going to wish that you weren't rushing me along," Fox warned Artemis. Artemis shut up after that watching Fox curiously as she continued to search over her skin finding huge groups of nerves and sliding the needles into Artemis's body who was no longer bothered by the intrusion. Finally finished Fox took a step back studying her work ; "I've actually never tried this on a child before," she muttered mostly to herself.

"So this whole exercise could be pointless?" Artemis asked her voice dripping with annoyance.

Fox playfully ran her hand through Artemis's hair ignoring the scowl on the twelve year olds face, "Nothing is pointless, I mean if all else fails I can always call Victor to have his fun. Well fun for him not for you, you'll probably lose a limb or something along those lines, well that is if you survive."

Artemis studied Fox; she was enjoying this. Not that she was truly surprised; she had seen Fox cause pain before with that same twisted smile on her face. It was about the only thing that she knew that Fox thoroughly enjoyed, Bo had called her a sadist behind her back more times that she could count as he cursed her out. Pain wasn't anything new to her, she couldn't remember the last time she had been pain free, she had just quickly learned to shift her mind to other things and not focus on what was hurting. No one cared if you were in pain anyway, they wouldn't take pity on you because you had a gunshot wound or your leg was broken. If they wanted you dead, well you would be dead. It was something that Bo had practically beaten into her head. They didn't live in a world that was impressed with honour and she personally knew people who would kill their own mothers for a few more credits. Mercy wasn't in their vocabulary, because a moment's hesitation could get you killed.

"I believe it's time to begin," Fox said a smile on her face as she went to the only working freezer and brought back a popsicle splitting it in half and putting one half in her mouth, "White is your favourite?" she asked Artemis who looked at her warily before nodding slowly. Fox sucked on her half of the Popsicle for a second, "Lemon lime," she said after a moment looking at the popsicle in front of her, "Well I doubt it's going to be your favourite in a moment."

Artemis gave her a suspicious look "What do you mean it's going to be –"Artemis barely bit back a scream of pain as Fox ran the Popsicle over Artemis's arm.

A gleeful smile appeared on Fox's face, "It works," she said with a smile as she continued tracing patterns on Artemis's skin. Without missing a beat Fox continued informing Artemis of how this was possible, "I needed to access your nervous system in a way that wouldn't do too much damage, I didn't want you becoming a cripple, hence the needles. The electrical impulses, well they are interrupting your own senses, so that a sensation such as cold feels like someone is pouring lava over your body. At this moment I control your sensory nervous system, you feel what I want you to feel. And at this moment I want you to feel pain Shepard." Fox used the other Popsicle to run down Artemis's side watching her struggling not to scream as she tried to pull herself away from the popsicle.

Artemis bit her tongue hard enough to draw blood to keep from screaming as she kept her eyes tightly closed. It hurt; it was almost as if burned as she attempted to pull herself free, knowing that it was futile. The popsicle was melting against her skin leading to trails of the sticky liquid down her body. Each droplet felt like someone was running a knife down her body and after opening her up they were cauterizing the wounds without the anaesthetic.

"Scream for me Shepard," Fox whispered in her ear gently tracing her tongue down Artemis's jaw line, causing Artemis to jerk her head away from Fox.

That sensation was just as painful as the popsicles against her skin, but she still didn't scream, even as Fox dug the Popsicle into her sides.

Fox frowned, seeing the blood seeping from the corner of Artemis's and paused her ministrations, the popsicles still pressed against Shepard's skin. Over half an hour had passed but there hadn't been a scream from Shepard, when she had attempted this same thing on Bo all those years ago he had screamed after the first few minutes. Of course at that time she knew exactly where it would hurt, and had focused all her efforts on that area. It was different with Artemis, though she enjoyed causing pain in general, her whole plan hinged on Artemis remaining loyal, and the thought of penetration to get her point across didn't appeal to her. She would have to be much older. She didn't need a broken puppet. "Scream for me," she repeated trailing the Popsicle down Shepard's chest going after other sensitive areas.

"No," Artemis finally managed accidentally spraying some of the blood that had accumulated in her mouth on Fox's face as she gasped for air.

Fox wiped the blood away with her shoulder and smiled as she pulled away from Artemis suddenly having an idea, "Don't worry Artie you will scream for me I promise you," she glanced at the time, 45 minutes and she still hadn't managed to put the fear of god into the child. It was clear that Shepard was barely holding on as she studied the sweaty child in front of her gently wiping away a droplet of blood that had dribbled down her chin.

Artemis looked at Fox through worn out eyes, wondering if it was time for her to be returned to Bo. She looked at the chronometer; it hadn't even been an hour yet. She let out a guttural groan, she had no idea how much longer she could take. She looked around for Fox who wasn't to be seen and she felt her heart dropping Fox most certainly had something malicious planned for her, she most definitely regretted agreeing to this portion of Fox's plan. She hadn't expected this, a whipping and maybe possibly broken bones, a pain that she knew or that she was familiar with. This was new and it hurt more than anything that she had experienced before, another lie told by Johnny, that her brand would be the worst pain she had ever felt. Footsteps to her right caused Artemis to turn her head and look at Fox's next dastardly plan and feel her heart dropping as she saw Fox returning lugging a giant bucket of water, she could see and hear the ice cubes clinking against the bucket and each other. She watched in horror as Fox lifted the water over her head and tipped the bucket.

_

* * *

Artemis quickly snapped back to reality forcing her body, which had become as rigid as a board, to relax. There was a reason that she locked those memories away she reminded herself as her grey eyes found Liara's blue eyes and she once again focused on the present. There had been no need to tell Liara how she had been tortured even if she had asked. "You must think very poorly of humanity," she stated trying to force other memories from resurfacing. _

_Liara studied Artemis for a moment, she had been horrified at the graphic detail that Artemis had gone into before she had snapped back to reality. Her eyes had become misty and her voice had gone distant, "I do not judge a whole by the actions of a few. You have been nothing but kind to me Commander and have gone out your way to make me feel welcome aboard your ship. In fact everyone onboard treats me rather well, certainly better than some of the Asari that I know." Liara was quiet watching Artemis mull over what she had just said, it was interesting to watch her think over things. It was a look that she wasn't familiar with, most of the time Artemis always looked so serious so focused on the mission. "But with all that you've experienced from your fellow man, I don't understand why you are fighting so hard for them."_

_Artemis was quiet for a moment before finally speaking, "I don't have a reason why I fight. I'm not afraid to die, and I'm not afraid of death." _

_Liara looked at her, "My mother once told me that the people who claim that they are not afraid of death are either lying or they truly believe that they deserve to die."_

_Artemis gave a rueful smile, "Your mother is rather wise woman." The smile faded, "You don't understand Liara I have done some things that will make you even you cringe. I have killed people for looking at Fox wrong I have shattered lives on a whim. I was groomed to become Fox and when I finally woke up from that nightmare I was surrounded by stacks of bodies. I'm not attempting to kill myself, or get anyone around me killed but when my time comes I won't fight it." She was the scourge of humanity. She studied Liara wondering if she would still look at her the same way if she knew she had screamed and begged Fox for mercy. "I think we're done for the night I've got several side missions planned but same place tomorrow?" _


	9. Chapter 9: And The Hero Will Drown

Between the two of them Bo Hagen had always been the brains, Fox was the passionate one, the risk taker, the one to get to emotionally involved in everything that she did. Where Fox was a risk-taker a wild child who's erratic mood swings made her unpredictable, he was the cautious one, the patient one who waited until the right moment to strike. He had always viewed Fox's emotions, her passion to be her weakness. Unfortunately she had raw talent and the skills to back it up, on top of the madness that infected her, where as he hadn't. It was probably why the men followed her, she was the charismatic leader whereas he was seen at the trusted advisor. And he hadn't minded that role, he had no need for the limelight they were friends and once upon a time they had loved each other like siblings. There was nothing that Fox could do that bothered him; after all he had done pretty much the same. Their relationship worked for them for whatever reason, he was the brain behind Fox's success and he wasn't greedy enough to demand more of the cut or to move up in the world. He had never really liked change. That was of course until Johnny had dumped that girl on him saying that Fox had ordered him to take care of her. He hadn't meant to love her as a daughter, it had changed him. He had begun stepping on Fox's more and more often, in an attempt to protect Artemis, she had no clue what he had done to protect her. Of course it had backfired on him, Artemis had become his kryptonite, and to punish him Fox had no problem hurting Artemis to make it look like he had done it. And for some reason he never spoke up, instead he pushed her harder so there would be no need for Fox to punish her. But over the years the punishments had gotten worse and he was sure Artemis hated him, while her obsession and love for Fox was clear.

But in all the years that this power struggle for Artemis's affections Fox had never laid a physical hand on Artemis, she was the one that showed Artemis kindness while using him as the punishing hand. Which was why this display confused him; Fox roughly dumping Artemis's naked body into his arms as she wiped her hands clean of the blood, there was no signs of mutilation, there were no broken bones that he could see, just thin cuts and a few burns. Bo locked eyes with Fox, she had done this, she had finally shown Artemis her true colors. It had only been a matter of time. "What did you do?" He demanded, his voice cold filled with an unnatural fury.

Fox met his gaze unflinchingly, "I showed her that failure cannot and will not be tolerated, something that you should have taught her because you believed in it." Fox turned to leave before stopping turning her head an odd smile on her face, "And Bo, her screams were so lovely," she stated laughing as she left after seeing Bo's body tense. But he did nothing, he was very good at doing that.

Bo looked down at Artemis shaking his head, her life was more important than revenge there would be plenty of time for that later he needed to make sure that Artemis would be okay. He already knew she would live, but he had no idea what her mental state would be. He had seen the results of Fox's touch on others, most went spiralling into self-destructive behaviour, more often than not they killed themselves. No Fox wouldn't have shattered Artemis mind, she still had her uses after all but she would carry the scars of this day. And with her obsession with Fox, chances were she would willingly submit herself to more torture as long as it kept Fox happy. He wouldn't allow that to happen, he would have to accelerate his plans. He gently placed Artemis's body on the couch, and went to get the medi-gels and began to work on the worst of Artemis's wounds.

It was a couple of hours later when Artemis woke up to find herself clothed and in her own bed. The first thing she noticed was an absence of pain in everything but her throat and flashes of the last twenty-four hours came rushing back to her. She had screamed, she had screamed until she couldn't scream anymore. And what was worse she had begged to be released, she had promised to do anything for even a second of reprieve but she had none. Fox hadn't stopped till she had passed out from the pain, she had waited until she had woken up and started the process again. She rolled over ignoring the stabbing pain in her side she couldn't even remember what had happened after she had passed for the final and last time. She had travelled in and out of consciousness, but she could vaguely remember Fox's kindness after she had finished and she might have seen tears, but she couldn't remember. She could remember Fox apologizing when she had come back to for a few minutes.

"Good, you're awake," Grey eyes focused on Bo who had entered her room with some more medi-gels. He motioned for her to turn over, which she did without much fuss as he took a seat on the edge of the bed and began to liberally apply medi-gel on the bruise that Artemis was sporting just below her ribs.

The room was silent as Bo worked on her Artemis staring at the plain white walls ignoring the pain, "I screamed," she said finally her voice hoarse and cracking. Bo said nothing and Artemis continued staring at the wall trying to keep a handle on the surge of emotions she was feeling. "I—I begged for her to stop," she stumbled over her words for a moment before regaining control and yet Bo said nothing continuing to work on her wounds. "I'm...sorry," she stated finally breaking down as the tears began to fall. "I failed."

Bo froze for a second before placing a calming arm on her shoulder, "You didn't fail, you weren't ready to enter the anvil. If anyone failed it is me, I'm sorry that you were punished for it again." Artemis met his gaze a look of confusion on her features; he was taking such a risk playing this card. He knew that Artemis was aware of the power play but she had made it clear where her allegiances lay. He couldn't blame her, but this was his one shot to get her back on his side.

Artemis struggled to regain control of her emotions and rubbed at her eyes and cheeks in an attempt to dry them, it was met with Bo gently wiping away a tear that escaped gently. "What do you mean again?" she asked.

Bo shifted his gaze working as he stitched up a rather deep cut on her abdomen, it would scar but maybe it would fade with time and she would forgive him of being so weak. "I am in charge of you; Fox tasked me with training you. Every time you failed, I was the one being punished. Exploiting a weakness to cause pain is nothing new. I should have been the one taking your place today, just like I should have been the one in your place for all your punishments. But Fox gave me my orders and I carried them out. The time that you spent at Cravens all those years ago before Fox miraculously saved you in the nick of time was not my idea nor was it your fault."

Artemis stared at him an unreadable expression before pushing his hand of her abdomen, "Weakness is not tolerated...either is failure," she repeated the mantra that had been instilled in her since she had been little.

Bo bristled, Fox had made sure that had been burned into her memory several of times through out the years, he immediately continued to work on Artemis's side, "You're not Fox, no matter how hard she'll try to burn herself onto your personality or mold you into a miniature version of her. You are not weak, and I was not weak in protecting you."

"You didn't protect me, do you know how many times I thought I was going to be raped? Or where I was beaten within an inch of my life? All because you couldn't stand up to her. You let me become your weakness, and what's worse you let it show," Artemis snapped at him.

Bo let Artemis get her anger out, "And what should I have done?"

"Killed her," Artemis replied with ease and conviction.

Bo paused and stared at the pre-teen incredulously, he had never thought of Artemis as a killer, but here she was suggesting the murder of Fox. "Kill her?" he repeated.

Artemis frowned, "I'm not blind let alone stupid, everyone is aware that there is a power struggle going on. And instead of just taking Fox head on your hiding behind, the fact that you hope that she dies. You really have no intention of pulling the trigger yourself. You've had more than enough opportunities to kill Fox, a bit of poison, or even when her back was turned during a mission, all you needed to do was pull the trigger."

Bo snarled and his hand whipped out catching Artemis by the jaw snapping her head back, it had been the first time he had ever struck her in anger and he froze.

"People don't like hearing the truth, especially not about themselves," Artemis said, a lesson that Bo had taught her. "You can't pull the trigger and I'm tired of being the pawn in your little games. Out of all the people in the world I'm the only person who has access to Fox these days."

"Are you asking what I think you're asking?" Bo pressed her still not understanding where this was going. He paused for a moment, "And does this mean that you forgive me?"

Artemis met his gaze with ease, "I am telling you that I'm the only person who can get close to her, I'm the only one she trusts, I can get at least one shot off, and I haven't missed a shot since I was ten."

"There is a difference between shooting a target and shooting to actually kill someone. And you will hesitate, this isn't some random stranger this is someone you know and up until recently you admired. You will hesitate and that hesitation will kill you."

"I am not as weak as you are Bo, I will not hesitate," she vowed darkly her grey eyes meeting his eyes, determination etched on her features.

Bo studied her, this change had been rapid, but Artemis loyalty had always been to those who were kind to her. She was protective to those she considered her friends, but at the same time there was no room in her heart for those that betrayed her. It would be wise to take advantage of this before Artemis's anger dissipated and she was once again fawning over Fox. "Don't miss, don't hesitate, you only get one shot if you miss it you'll be dead before you hit the ground."

* * *

"_People don't like the truth period, it took me a long time to realize that what Bo had told me about her was true. That Fox had a hand in all my...misfortunes as a child, that she was the one pulling the strings. It wouldn't be till I took her side and she turned on me just like she had turned on Bo that I realized that what he had been telling me was the truth. She found my weakness and she didn't just exploit it she destroyed it and I found out what she really was."_

_Liara looked at Artemis curiously, "What was your weakness?" she asked._

_Artemis paused wondering if this would be the right time to answer the question before she waved the question off, "That's a story for another time," she said dismissively looking at Liara. "But you know that this was all planned out from the beginning Bo did underestimate so drastically, and he overestimated me."_

"_I don't think he underestimated you, he may have underestimated your loyalty and possibly he was blinded by the fact that he loved you. It is often difficult for parents to see the faults in their children, or in your case, he wanted to believe that you had forgiven him. Did you?"_

"_Forgive Bo?" Artemis eyes glassed over for a moment, "I need to beg him for forgiveness, I was wrong. When I called him weak I was wrong."_

"_He was your first," Liara repeated causing Artemis to look at her. She was met with a swift singular nod, "Shepard..."_

"_Making excuses doesn't change anything, I had a choice, several in fact and for the next few days I consistently made the wrong one. I chose Fox over the one person who was the closest thing I had to a father. And thinking back on it I have to wonder was I simply that...that stupid. I mean in hindsight the fact that Fox showed up everytime that I needed her, right when I needed her was beyond suspicious."_

"_You loved her because she was your hero. She manipulated you from an early age, and you loved her for who she represented to you. You are human Shepard, and you make mistakes. If you had all the details, if you knew from an early age that Fox was manipulating you, playing you against Bo, well, I'm sure you would have made a very different set of choices." And as terrible as it sounded, Liara was glad that Shepard had made the choices that she had made, it had brought them together. "You cannot regret your life completely Commander. Everyone makes choices that they regret." _

_Artemis nodded, Liara was right of course."I have done many things that I regret, and normally I don't dwell on them. The past is of course in the past but sometimes it's hard to look back and remember that I was a different person back then, which in itself brings up more questions. Am I really a changed person or have I simply suppressed the more unsavoury parts of my personality." Liara reached out and took Artemis's hand giving it a gentle squeeze. Artemis blinked again and a bit of color appeared in her cheeks as she continued on with her story. _


	10. Chapter 10: Toy Soldiers

**A/N: So to make up for my long very long absence here is a big chapter because I want to move this story along, and get to Artemis's teenage years. The next chapter will be an interlude, because I truly enjoy the constructive criticism and I to was noticing the disconnect between the past and the present, so I'm going to slightly change the format a bit and have the next chapter more of a catch up and more of a discussion with Liara and stuff going on in the "present". This chapter is marks the end of Artemis's childhood, and the next arc will be the arc that makes Shepard who Shepard is. This version of Shepard anyway, there will be a cameo which may turn into something later, but eh I'll cross that bridge when I get there. The next arc will probably be broken up into three years but it will span from the time Shepard is 15 till she finally joins the Alliance on her 18****th**** birthday, each year will probably be a few chapters long but again there is the bridge that I have to cross when I get there. So I hope you enjoy this chapter and please review, because seriously I've had this laying around on my computer for ages, constructive criticism is more than welcome.**

* * *

The blood, there was so much blood and Artemis resisted the urge to hurl. She could feel the warm blood dripping down her face and cooling off in her shirt, she had been caught in the blood splatter. She shook herself once and then a second time trying to force herself into reality as she looked at Fox's prone body. The acidic taste of the bile rising to her throat as she fumbled to get herself out, stumbling out of Fox's apartment scanning the halls quickly, no one seemed to be around and she leaned against the wall she wondered why Fox had insisted that she actually the pulled the trigger. There were so many easier ways to fake her death that didn't involve her shooting her mentor. She could only trust that Fox knew what she was doing, She inhaled deeply trying to stop her thoughts from racing and wondering about the what-ifs. Bo had been right she hadn't been ready and there was a difference between shooting targets and shooting humans.

Taking a deep breath struggling to catch her breath she looked at her hand activating her omni-tool. With shaky hands she sent a quick message to Bo stating that it was done. It was merely a second later that her omni-tool pinged. Artemis opened the message reading it carefully. Without hesitation she hit her hand against the fire alarm and raced down the stairs. The sprinklers drenching her body and washing away any evidence of the blood which had spattered onto her face. She kept the contents of her stomach until she was well away from the building and hurled into a nearby trash can, several blocks away. Wiping her mouth she looked around, thankfully no one had seen her, and if they had they didn't seem to care enough to check on what she could only imagine was a strange soaked girl who had been puking in a trash can. It was a moment of weakness which bothered her, she hadn't been this weak, not since, well not since she had watched her first man getting tortured in front of her. She hadn't even killed Fox, merely incapacitated her until Fox's contacts in the emergency services could announce her dead. But the panic was there, what if she had accidentally killed Fox, after all this plan what if she had screwed up. It wouldn't be the first time, and she doubted it probably wouldn't be the last. Killing the only person who had saved her life more times than she could count, the thought caused her eyes to water in despair. She inhaled sharply choking back a scared sob; she didn't cry she was strong. Crying was for the weak, she was no longer that scared little girl. She rubbed at her eyes, and slapped her cheek trying to swallow the feeling of panic. She was better than this, Fox had trained her better and so had Bo, but she was scared. It was an inexplicable feeling, she had stepped in front of bullets, but she was not blind as to what was going on. If this plan didn't work, if it fell apart the war would be bloody, and Fox might actually truly die. It was that thought that terrified her above all else. She repeated the mantra in her head, _keep Fox happy, keep Fox safe. _If it came down to it she would kill Bo herself if it meant that she could at least pay Fox back at least once for saving her life.

* * *

"Is she-?" Bo asked looking up at Artemis who had finally entered their apartment, noting the dead look on her face. It was a sharp contrast to the determination that had been etched in her eyes a few hours ago. He resisted the urge to pull her into a hug he needed to know if Fox was still alive, that would be the worst scenario. Artemis would never be safe as he had no doubt that Fox would hunt her down and put a bullet in her skull, and that was if she was being nice. He locked eyes with Shepard as he listened to Salvatore.

"_Two shots, one in the chest the other in the shoulder, the kid is good apparently the first shot was to the chest right through her heart tearing the aorta, she would have bled out in seconds, without the need for the second shot. Fox is dead Bo the kid pulled it off."_

A shaky relieved breath escaped Bo's lips he hadn't even known he had been holding it in as he ended the call staring at Artemis who stared back. "You did it," he said with a small nod in her direction struggling to contain himself, he wasn't ecstatic like he believed that he would be, he had lost the person who was his best friend for the longest time. He studied Artemis before closing the distance between them and wrapping his arms around her. "Salvatore just called she's dead, she can never hurt you again. You're free Artemis."

Artemis's body went rigid when Bo pulled her into his hug, she didn't want to be touched she didn't want to be held, she needed to think. Was Salvatore on their side, or was he loyal to Bo. She couldn't remember the names that Fox had given her of people who were loyal to her. If Salvatore was on Bo's side she may have just accidentally killed Fox. Her body began to shake in response to her thoughts and her breathing quickened as she began to panic. This plan had been too risky to begin with, why had she suggested it to Fox. It required her being vulnerable with someone who didn't have her best interests at heart.

Bo immediately began to rub her back mistaking her panic attack as Artemis going to into shock at her actions, "Calm down Artie, it's over now," he muttered into her ear with a calming voice. "She won't be able to hurt you ever again; she won't be able to hurt anyone ever again. You did a good thing, for the greater good. Fox was going insane, seeing threats that weren't there. She would have turned on you eventually as well." This did little to settle down Artemis whose body continued to shake as she slipped closer to a full blown panic attack. Bo grimaced she hadn't been prepared for this, at least not emotionally. If this had been any regular old person Artemis might have been fine, but he had failed to take into account that for years Artemis had worshiped Fox, revered her as some god. "You didn't betray her you saved her Artemis."

Artemis half listened to his words, and pulled away from him pushing against his body as she looked at him, she had actually caused physical damage to her mentor if she hadn't accidentally killed her. "I—I need to be alone," she finally managed as she escaped towards her room closing the door and locking it behind her. She covered her ears ignoring Bo tried to check on her as she replayed the events in her head not wanting to skip over any detail. It had all happened so fast. Fox had been barking instructions at her, handing her the gun that she would use, quickly telling her how to get rid of the gun pointing at a rather safe point. Fox telling her to pull the trigger, screaming at her when she hesitated. That hadn't made things better, but she had done it. She had pulled the trigger in what she thought was at best a half thought out plan.

Her omni-tool pinged and she looked at it, a message from Salvatore. _Congratulations_; at least that's what she took from the subject heading and she opened it. It was simple message but she felt the panic that had overwhelmed her dissipating, as she re-read the message over and over again.

"_You did alright." _

It was Fox's greatest compliment. Fox was alive, she hadn't done anything wrong and the plan was moving forward. A small sigh of relief escaped her lips as she slid onto the ground, tears of relief and joy streaming down her face. She hadn't screwed up anything, everything was running smoothly. She cocked her heads towards the door listening to Bo plead with her, and twitched angrily as she listened to him justify what he had asked her to do, what he had wanted her to do.

Bo rested his frame against Artemis's door; she hadn't been ready to do this. And he should have said no when she had told him what she was planning. She wasn't meant to be a killer, but she was the one who had the best opportunity to kill Fox and he had taken it. "Artie, I'm sorry," He apologized, he had always told people that she would never kill anyone while he was alive, but he had used her to gain their freedom. "But it needed to be done."

Artemis closed her eyes, willing the disgust on her features to disappear into her usual neutral mask. Bo was a coward and a traitor, and she hoped that all this fighting would soon be over so she could once again be near her Fox.

Bo tried Artemis's door again, while he knew that he could easily break into the door he didn't want to crowd her. She needed her space and he would be right there if and when she wanted to talk. He wouldn't allow her to walk down the path that that he had chosen of his own free-will. He would put her on the right path, she would go to a real school. She would make friends, maybe become a doctor or a lawyer, but most importantly she would be safe. He smiled to himself, she would grow up to be alright he would make sure of that. But first he needed to make sure that this…incident wouldn't break the child. "Artemis are you going to be okay?" he asked softly, as he wondered what was going through her mind. He remembered his first kill, it had been in self-defense and it had become easier as time had gone on. Artemis had performed a cold-blooded execution to someone she knew personally, he couldn't imagine what she was going through.

The door to Artemis's room slid open causing Bo to fall flat against his back onto Artemis's floor. Artemis looked down at him, "She gets a funeral, and she deserves that. She deserves a funeral."

Bo studied Shepard, her voice was void of emotion but her tone had indicated that this was not something he could negotiate. And the thought pleased him, that even though Fox had made their lives a living hell she was willing to forgive and move on. A funeral was the least he could do for his former friend. He pushed himself to his feet and wrapped his arms around Artemis, "We can do that," he responded softly running his hand through Artemis's hair just like old times.

* * *

Artemis stood quietly at the funeral watching as the mahogany casket was slowly lowered into the ground. She knew that Fox had been switched out in the hearse, and she briefly wondered who was being buried today. The whole plan was simple, and it had gone off without a hitch. It was amazing to know that a simple drug from a pufferfish, had managed to trick people into believing that Fox was dead, a drug and amazing make up had managed to trick the hundreds of people who had come to her funeral and pay their last respects.

There wasn't much respect going around, and Artemis made note of all the lieutenants and the basic foot soldiers who had come up to her and come to congratulate her on her first kill. It was quite clear that they were the ones that were firmly on Bo's side as they didn't even bother to hide their disdain for Fox, the same people who feared her madness were glad to see her go and were openly disrespecting her. And many of them were shaking hands with Bo and exchanging words, of course many of them were happy since Bo was for all intents and purposes the heir apparent to Fox's throne. She still made a list, Fox would be able to tell her who was loyal to her and who was loyal to Bo.

The first bit of dirt hit the casket and Artemis flinched at the sound, she was no stranger to funerals. She had been to many of them, but she hoped and prayed that one day that it wouldn't be Fox. Judging from everyone who hated her, chances were Bo wouldn't be the only one who would make an attempt on her life, she would have to be smarter, be more skilled, and more dangerous than everyone at this funeral to be able to keep Fox safe.

"I didn't see this coming you know," Artemis looked up to see Johnny crossing his arms his eyes focused on the casket. He glanced over at Artemis, before returning his attention to the scene in front of you. "Knew you were going to be something when I handed you to her, but this?" He motioned to the casket and Artemis returned her attention to him.

"You told me to keep her happy, and I did, and I learned," Artemis responded brushing a strand of hair from her face. She had liked Johnny, or had at least found him tolerable. "There was no reason to fear her; she is human just like rest of us."

Johnny studied the child it had been years since he had last spoken to her and the maturity and the difference was palpable. She was only going to become more dangerous, more efficient, and better. She was one of the rare people who could adapt to any situation, and he suddenly felt grateful that she was on his side. Bo didn't know what he was trying to protect with her, she would go far no matter what she did. "Fox was mad as a hatter," Johnny said looking at her. "And she was getting worse, she was getting more paranoid and more delusional, if you didn't do what you she would have set her sights on you eventually. You're going to end up being greater than her maybe all of us, I knew that the day I watched you fight."

Artemis looked at him, "Is it still paranoia when people were actually after you?" she questioned him. "She's dead now, she was killed, I don't think her delusions and paranoia were unfounded."

Johnny smiled, Bo had taught this child well. "If you rule by fear, this is what will happen to you every single time. You were born to lead, people will follow you through hell, but you must never let them fear you not like she did. They must respect you and love you and be willing to give up everything for your cause. Somewhere along the line she lost that and as you've seen, as you've heard people hated her. When years ago before your time she was one of the most loved members of the Reds."

Artemis nodded; Johnny had always given her sound advice. Keep Fox happy, and that's what she planned to do for the rest of her life. She would protect Fox, she would keep her safe and happy. She had no intention of being a leader, she was quite happy following Fox. "You've never given me bad advice Johnny," Artemis turned to him and gave him a small smile and nodded in his direction. "Thank you," it was a shame that he had sided with Bo over this.

The funeral ended soon after and she took Bo's hand causing the bigger man to smile, "It was a nice ceremony," he said, "The men are gathering tonight to pay their last respects at the Anvil. Salvatore's organized a tournament of sorts. It's been booked for the Reds."

Artemis smiled, "She'd like that, she loved that place. Is everyone going to be there?" she asked him.

Bo grinned back happy to see Artemis pleased, "Everyone but Craven, which is probably the best those two hated each other. If this funeral wasn't such a big deal he wouldn't have come. But he refuses to go anywhere without a gun these days and the Anvil has become a gun-free zone since Fox shot that fighter ages a few weeks ago."

"I didn't want that bastard here anyway," Artemis said with a shrug as she got into Bo's car relaxing, watching as Bo got the details from Salvatore who waved at her, she smiled back. Everyone had their part to play and this was his. She knew what would happen from day one, it was simple really. Every piece had fallen into place almost seamlessly. It had been her idea all those weeks ago to fight in the Anvil, and get her ass kicked only to have Fox save her by shooting the man. The man who ran the Anvil was a close friend of Fox's and it had been easy for him to simply ban all guns from his premises, few complained. He did have to protect his fighters and his interests and she was sure Fox had paid him to get this plan into motion. No one would be suspicious when they were frisked at the door; it had been common place for weeks now. No one would notice that very few lieutenants who had chosen Fox over Bo would be allowed to bring guns in, and Fox who was currently recovering in the Anvil would share the rest of the weapons they had smuggled in with the people whom she trusted, and were trusted by Salvatore.

Artemis wasn't naïve, she was aware that she had just orchestrated what would possibly turn into a blood bath. But Fox had been impressed with the detail and how simple the plan was to pull off in only a few weeks' time. Bo wouldn't see it because he had wanted to believe in her, believe that she had turned against Fox, and that she believed in the lies that he fed her. He was weak, and Artemis would never leave herself open to his weakness. She would prove to Fox that she was not weak like Bo, that he hadn't infected her in that way.

* * *

Artemis had wandered off as soon as they hit the Anvil, as he watched her talk with all the people who knew Fox and told her stories and he smiled. She was distracting herself and she had yet to take him up on his offer to talk to him. He wondered briefly if she regretted killing Fox,, and shook his head, Artie had talked to enough people in the past few weeks to realize that Fox needed to be put down like the rabid animal her namesake was known to be. He was still waiting for his time to rejoice, respecting Artemis's grieving period and allowing her to choose what was right and how to honor Fox. He was very aware that she was still in awe with the woman, but he chalked it up to a form of Stockholm syndrome, he was sure that she would grow out of it. Despite the fact that she was being raised by criminals she seemed to have a good moral compass. He only hoped that one of these days she would open to him like in the past and he could truly be the father-figure to her that he wanted to be. Something about her made him wanted to be a better person, he thanked Fox for giving him the child all those years ago.

It wasn't just him either, so many of the men who worked under Fox loved her as if she was their own daughter. Someone wise had once said that it took a village to raise a child, and they had all chipped in with her education costs. Even Johnny who had only known the kid for a week had chipped in everyone held such high expectations for Artemis, and she wasn't even aware of how much she was loved. He could only hope that Fox's poison would soon be gone and Artemis could be normal. He could barely believe that she was turning thirteen in about ten minutes, with everything that had gone on in her life he was still surprised that she had lived this long.

Bo returned his attention to the fight that was going on in front of him as a nostalgic smile crossed his face and a tear rolled down his cheek, getting lost in the scruffy beard on his face. The realization had hit him now, he had lost his best friend, he had all but ordered her execution. Despite everything that had happened in the past seven years, Fox had always been there for him when they were kids. Before the madness took in, they had done everything together. Fox had always protected him, she was the one that had wiped his tears away as children and saved him so many times from himself, in a way she was exactly like Artemis was now. He had no idea what had happened that had changed her, which had steeled her heart to the point where she had become the very thing she had fought against all those times in the past. And he had still ordered her death, instead of desperately trying to save her.

"Remember what I told you Beauregard, crying is for the weak," the woman who had been sitting beside him the entire night said as she gently brushed away the water trail on his face.

Bo froze in place his eyes widening in horror as he pulled away, there was only one other living soul who knew his full name and he knew that voice well. He hadn't thought nothing of it when Salvatore had been handing out Japanese Fox masks at the door, he had of course rejected it but Artemis had been delighted at the idea and had grabbed one and put it on laughing as she looked for a mirror to see herself in. Some of the other lieutenants had seen it and laughed as they too had taken one and worn the masks. He had been perplexed when he saw several people wearing one and had asked Salvatore about it, who shrugged. He had seen them around and thought it was an interesting way to honor their fallen comrade and he thought the idea would please Artemis, it had been a logical explanation even if he had thought the whole idea was rather silly. Salvatore had bitched about the price as an explanation of why he had only brought ten masks to the event, and given the fact that Salvatore was just as notoriously cheap as he was again a logical explanation.

"You dyed your hair," he finally replied reaching gently and touching the now brown locks, a resigned look on his face as all the pieces began to slide into place. He hadn't even given it consideration that Artemis would betray him like this he had believed that she was on his side. But he had also believed that Salvatore was on his side as well.

"It's a wig, didn't want to give myself away early," Fox replied cheerfully under the mask. "You're no longer the brain standing in the shadows anymore Bo, you got weak and sloppy," her tone changed rapidly into one of disdain as she stared at her former friend.

"And you're losing your grasp with reality," Bo responded with a shrug turning to look at Artemis who was still going around the room, she hadn't noticed what was going on yet and he smiled softly. Despite his current situation, he was suddenly impressed with the simplicity of Artemis's plan, she had pulled strings that he hadn't even thought of and he had no doubt that she would continue to grow. She had surpassed him and he had no idea when it had happened, but even he could appreciate the brilliance in pulling this off. She had taken care of a gang war breaking out on the streets turning something that could have dragged on for weeks with hundreds of people being collateral damage as he and Fox went to war. She had minimized any possible bloodshed and made this confrontation come to a head much quicker than he had realized.

"You were plotting against me Beauregard, I have hardly lost my grip on reality," Fox snapped back, following his gaze onto Artemis who had finally noticed that they were talking and under was the events unfold wordlessly, her face hidden under the mask. "You know tonight she's going to be baptized by blood and fire, I was thirteen when I killed my first person. And I think tonight is time for her to become an adult."

"She will grow to be better than you Fox. And the men will love her rather than fear her like they fear you. And one day she's going to realize that you've been torturing her from that day you told me to drop her at Cravens just so you could rescue her."

Fox chuckled amused at Bo's ramblings. "I've never tortured her, I just showed her kindness and she loves me, she worships me because I am the only person to show her kindness. I make her happy Bo, something you weren't capable of doing."

"One day she'll see true kindness from someone and that day will mark the beginning of your downfall Fox, because she'll see through all the smoke and mirrors that you've set up to confuse her and she'll see you for what you really are."

"I will not make the same mistakes with her that I made with you Bo, and unlike you Artemis will love me forever, she won't betray me." Bo said nothing in return instead going back to watching the fight in front of him, only turning back to Fox when her omni-tool pinged alerting her to the fact that it was midnight.

It was at that moment that she stood up pulling off the mask and the wig and throwing it at one of the lieutenants, "Happy birthday my protégé!" she said with a smile on her face as the room went deathly silent as people stared at what they believed was a ghost.

A grin spread across Artemis's face as she pulled off the Fox mask looking up at Fox, it had been the first time they had spoken since she had shot her. It was only through discipline that she didn't run up to Fox and hug her. "Fox, you're okay."

"Of course I am," Fox walked up to Artemis wrapping her arm around her shoulder as she lead her back to the table where Bo was still seated handing her the gun and pulling out another. "Now before the real bloodshed begins, I think it's about time we popped your cherry don't you? And I think Bo would be the perfect man for the job."

It suddenly became clear to everyone in the room who had been taken aback by Fox's sudden reappearance what was going to happen as all the men who had conspired against her, and as they begun to make moves to start fleeing they were suddenly made very wary of the guards at the entrance with military grade assault rifles.

"Now, now we're about to see one of the most beautiful things in the world," Salvatore said from where he was leaning against the bar a gun pointed lazily at Johnny who had a grim look on his face. "A young girl becoming an adult, it's precious. I'm sure we can all remember our first times, didn't have this many witnesses. But don't worry Artie, it may be bloody, and it may hurt, but you'll get used to it soon, and may come to enjoy it."

Artemis looked between Bo and the gun, she hadn't enjoyed the first time she had shot someone, but that had probably been because of who it was. And it was time that she proved to everyone that she wasn't a child anymore and that she would do anything to make Fox happy.

Bo watched Artemis carefully he saw the brief hesitation in Artemis's movements as she slowly raised the gun. He looked up at Fox who had a smug smile on her face and cocked his head smiled at Artemis. He only hoped his shot in the dark worked and that one day Artemis would be free. "I'm sorry I was weak Shepard."

Artemis paused for a second as a wave of grief and guilt coursed through her body, as she pulled the trigger. The gunshot noise was followed with the sound of Bo's body hitting the ground. It was only after Fox put her hand on her shoulder in a comforting manner did she open her eyes and looked at Bo's body. There was a pool of blood around his head and she watched quietly as the liquid expanded. A surge of emotions cursed through her and she resisted the urge to hurl again, not in front of Fox, there would be time for that later. There would be time to recover later a time to reflect later. She tuned to look up at Fox, searching for the older woman's approval.

Fox smiled warmly at Artemis, not bothering to glance at the man who used to be her best friend as she rubbed Artemis's back. "Who's next?" she asked pleased as Artemis immediately pulled the gun up aiming at Johnny. She smiled inwardly, Bo was wrong she would never make the same mistakes again. She would make sure that Artemis would never leave her side.

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**Please review**


	11. Chapter 11: Interlude part 1

**a/n: So here is the first interlude, I decided that there will possibly be three or four, shorter ones but with the same goal in mind, furthering their romance while also dropping hints as to what happens next. As well showing shifts in the characters, just a bit, things that remained true in a few chapters back are suddenly being put into focus more by Artemis. And I got rid of the italics because it was driving me mad to write in the format and since I'm not continuing the A story, if you will it should be fine. **

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"Bo was my first, Johnny was my second, Craven was the third. Nearly everyone after that was just a face, sometimes not even that. I didn't hesitate, if Fox wanted someone dead. They were gone by nights end, all she had to do was point me in the direction. Salvatore and Fox were right, it did become easier with each successive kill, though that probably had more to do with the fact that I hadn't known these people personally. Bo and Johnny were father figures, Johnny was the first one to ever believe that I would amount to anything great. Craven….Craven needed to die, I was one of the few lucky ones to escape nearly unscathed from his grasp. I never lose any sleep over his death." Artemis tapped her fingers against the metal table, a nervous habit that she had developed when she was worried about what Liara's reaction might be when she was being this frank with her.

Liara was quiet for a moment, "I think…I think that she was forcing you to break those bonds, making sure that you had no positive influence. In a backwards way she tricked you into making a decision that if she forced you, would undo everything that she had worked for as she groomed you." Artemis was quiet and Liara could see that she was running over her words quietly in her head and smiled to herself. It was nice to have someone listen to her advice and not have them merely scoff at her ideas due to her age. Whether or not Artemis agreed with her assessment, her words were still taken into account and weighed carefully before a response was generated.

Artemis suddenly emerged from her thoughts blinking and looking at Liara, "That fits," she muttered. It was an odd statement to make, and Liara met her eyes searching for an explanation. "I don't have all the pieces to the puzzle yet even now, I know what the image is, but there are several pieces still missing."

"Is it important? To know all the pieces that is. It was the past Shepard, there is nothing you can do to change what has already happened," Liara gently stroked Artemis's hand in an attempt to comfort her.

Artemis was quiet for a few moments, "I don't want to change my past, I just want to learn from it. I don't ever want to be manipulated like that again, on that grand scale. I don't want to do someone's bidding because they know things that I don't. I will not be…that person ever again. I don't want to be that person ever again." She sighed, "I don't obsess over it either, I know that it is what it is. But talking about it—"

"Brings up the questions again?" Artemis nodded and Liara gave her a comforting smile, "You don't have to talk about it if you do not wish to. It is clear that your past brings up painful memories and I can see that you sometimes struggle over telling me." As it stood now Liara was sure that Shepard kept things about her past from her. Liara didn't think it was something that Shepard did to protect her, or treat her as less of a person.

"You're the first person who has ever asked and wanted to know more," Artemis replied glancing away, there was a hint of nervousness in her voice. "You're the first person who I've told—" Artemis paused and looked back at Liara. "You're the first person who is going to get the entire story, from start to finish." Shepard bit the corner of her lip to keep from adding anything inappropriate. Liara was her friend, even if it was getting harder to be satisfied with such things.

Liara immediately picked up on the change and studied Artemis, "There was someone else?" Despite her best intentions a hint of jealousy quietly crept into her tone. She was being ridiculous and she knew it, Artemis was a grown woman, by Earth's standards. Of course there were other people, she had heard about Artemis and Sha'ira. Artemis wasn't like her; she was…experienced in that way. Liara paused in her thoughts, it wasn't even that concept that bothered her; it was the fact that there was someone else out there who this magnificent woman had fallen for.

Artemis eyes swept over her studying her quietly, an unreadable expression of on her face. "You're the first person who's going to get the entire story," She repeated again, a small smile, which didn't reach her eyes, flashing across her face.

Liara nodded, there was always a hidden meaning to some of Artemis's words, she assumed that this was one of them. "When you said Bo was your first, I thought you meant—" Liara broke off and blushed.

Artemis blinked as if suddenly realizing that her words could have been construed that way, and shook her head. "Bo never touched me like that. I was just a kid, in his mind his kid. Besides I never saw him hang out with anyone apart from Fox…" Artemis trailed off again suddenly confused by her own words. Realization dawned in her eyes and she turned her attention back to Liara quickly as if she hadn't faded out of existence.

"Another piece fell into place?" She was met with a swift nod from Artemis and Liara smiled pleased she could be of some use to her. "Spoilers?"

This time Artemis laughed and nodded, "Spoilers." There was another moment of silence between the two women. "I didn't know what love was back then. I thought I loved Fox more than anyone else in the world. I would have done anything for her, anything and I did. I did everything she asked except I never loved her, at least not really. At one point in time I may have though," Artemis quickly pondered over this conundrum for a second.

Liara nodded, it was something that she could believe. From everything that Artemis had described, that idolization of Fox could have evolved over time into a love of the more romantic kind. "What happened between the two of you?"

Artemis snorted derisively, "If you were to ask Fox, she would inform you that I broke her heart. The truth of the matter is that woman played with my feelings and emotions and she smashed mine before I ever 'betrayed' her. " Artemis quickly waved the thoughts away with a quick and hard shaking of her head. It was if she believed that if she shook hard enough the thoughts would fall out of her head. "Tell me about the Protheans," she said suddenly causing Liara's to look up in shock, surprised by the request.

"The greatest galactic civilization wiped out by the Reapers, the story is a tragedy Shepard and you know how it ends."

Artemis shrugged, "You know how my story ends, or at least that chapter of my story ends. I'm standing right here in front of you. And you still want to hear me tell the story," there was a playful smile on her face.

Liara smiled back, it was rare to see anything but the cold neutral mask on Shepard's face. "I don't know the details. Besides I have to admit that I enjoy listening to your voice Commander," Liara paused as she watched Artemis turn a few shades redder, and slowly cocked her head. "Are you okay Artemis?"

The sudden comment had caused the crack in the mask to fade if only for a moment as she coughed and looked away. "So tell me about your home world? I've never been in Asari space. Or you can tell me of your childhood. Cause I like hearing your voice to," she mumbled the last part suddenly unsure of herself. This wasn't something that she personally had a lot of experience with, there had only been one other person that she had tried to share this much with and that had been nearly fifteen years ago.

Liara smiled at her, trying to ignore the fact that her cheeks were a bit bluer. "Thessia is beautiful Shepard, one day you should come visit it with me. As you know the it has an abundance of element zero…"

Artemis listened attentively, smiling as Liara continued to speak. It wasn't just the words, or her voice it was the whole package. It was how her nose crinkled when she laughed or her hand movements when she was describing the flowers that could be found on Thessia. It was the fact, that she could see how lonely Liara was, they were similar in ways but at the same time still completely different. While Liara was naïve about certain things she offered insight that she personally would never have thought of. "Maybe after the whole Saren thing, you can take me there and show me."

Liara smiled, "I would like that," she bit her lip and looked at Artemis, "Shepard?"

Artemis glanced up, "Hmm?"

"It's not just the beacon that was on Eden Prime, or that you were touched by working Prothean technology. I don't want to dissect you or study you, but I do want to know everything about you. It's just you Artemis, there is something about you that is so compelling," Liara inhaled slowly trying to calm herself down. She had seen flashes of different sides of Artemis Shepard and they only drew her in more. "And I don't see how you could find me to be the slightest bit interesting. I'm not Kaiden…I mean I'm not a soldier."

Being on the Normandy was like being on every other ship, people gossiped, and the latest gossip was how much time that Artemis had been spending with Kaiden. The crew buzzed with the thoughts of their Commander and second in command getting it on, and it was quite clear that Kaiden was smitten. Of course no one exactly knew what Shepard was thinking at any given point in time, but since she hadn't rejected him outright the gossip had only gotten worse.

"Kaiden's male, and he's boring," Artemis said with a shrug as she stood up, "We need to get some rest, tomorrow it's going to be a long day on Noveria and you're going to need to be ready."

Liara nodded quickly surprised at how quickly and easily Artemis had side-stepped the discussion and switched back into Commander Shepard mode, "Of course Commander." With that she too got up and began to head to her little office behind the med-bay.

Artemis eyes tracked Liara for a moment before she headed in the opposite direction stopping for a moment to glance over her shoulder, "Liara?" Liara paused and turned back to look at Shepard. "I find you pretty compelling as well," She flashed Liara a cheeky grin and was gone before Liara could collect herself to respond.


	12. Chapter 12: Murder to Excellence

**A/N: Soo chapter 12..slow build up, and I'm going to say that in the next two chapters or so, there will be a cameo, and there will be catalysts popping up starting next chapter. Uh that's all...i think read and review. **

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Artemis gripped the half-conscious man's hair, dragging his limp body to the cage. Her eyes were focused on the table in which Fox, Salvatore, Kenzie and several other high ranking members of the Tenth Street Reds sat. With a small grunt she forced the man to his knees pulling out a combat knife that had been strapped to her inner thigh in a single motion. Sliding behind the man, whose hair she jerked back with a swift motion as she stared into the audience, ignoring the screaming spectators as she locked onto Fox's face.

It was an almost imperceptible nod of her head, but Artemis's action was swift as she jerked the knife across the man's throat. She didn't even blink as the last spurts of blood from a dying man splashed across her face, as the man weakly grabbed at his throat. Artemis studied the kneeling corpse before looking towards Fox, who once again gave her a small nod and she smiled and visibly relaxed. Artemis looked down at the man and frowned at the corpse in front of her, he had disrespected Fox, by demanding that she enter the cage with him. Without hesitation she placed her boot on the man's back and kicked him to the ground motioning for a towel.

"She's been trained well," Kenzie said to no one in particular, there was disgust in her voice as she turned her face away from the corpse in front of her.

Fox eyed the woman carefully; she had remained neutral in the civil war, preferring to watch on the sidelines. But it was a well-known fact that Kenzie loathed Artemis a result of the fact that Artie had killed Johnny. The two had butted heads a year ago, with Kenzie demanding blood. Artemis had shot her in response and sine then they had been forced to stay apart. There was no doubt in Fox's mind that Kenzie merely avoided the issue out of fear of Artemis. She studied the teenager who was currently wiping the blood from her face; two years had been a long time; and she had constantly proved herself time and time again. It was why she had been given her own small crew in a trial run, but she had excelled in the leadership role. Taking her ragtag members she had turned them into a well-oiled machine, capable of doing whatever needed to be done, whether it be gun or drug running, taking care of the people who needed to die, or if it was simply offering protection.

People, important ones, were beginning to notice Artemis's determination. Of course that only elevated Fox higher up in the organization. If she could raise such an apprentice, what else was she capable of doing were questions that were being asked. It wouldn't be long till she was at the top of the pyramid, with the way Shepard was bringing her glory.

"It has nothing to do with training, she keeps on improving," Salvatore drawled, as he nodded in Artemis's direction. "The poor idiot didn't even know what he was getting into when Artie entered the cage." There was a murmur of agreement around the table as studied the interaction between Fox and Shepard.

Shepard had offered her winnings to Fox, who had declined and motioned for Artemis to pull up a chair and sit with them. The deference that Artemis showed Fox made him glad that Artemis wasn't particularly ambitious. She would rise quick and fast if she ever chose to turn her back on Fox. It was already clear to everyone that Artemis worshipped—no loved Fox. The question was, if that love was reciprocated, and if it was what type of love it was.

He had seen Fox's eyes lingering, the predatory gleam in her eyes when she looked at Artemis. He briefly wondered if she wanted to use sex as a mean to control Artemis like she had Bo. It wasn't even really about the sex, merely it was the act of capturing an untapped area of Artemis's heart, in an attempt to stop a possible conflict of interest. Bo had fallen for the child he was forced to protect, a paternal instinct of sorts and it had caused the rift that had led to his death. He doubted Fox was going to make the same mistake twice. The only wrench in the plan was Artemis showed little interest in men or women. He had heard about all her run-ins with Craven, and he had to wonder if that had permanently turned the girl off from any sexual activity at all.

"Is that my only job?" Artemis asked there was a disappointed tone in her voice, causing Salvatore to turn his attention back to the events at hand.

An amused chuckle escaped from Fox's lips, "You should feel honored that the Boss is specifically asking for you by name."

Artemis turned to Salvatore, "Isn't this your field?" Upon seeing the puzzled look on his features Artemis continued. "Babysitting," she added the last part dryly causing Fox and several other people to laugh at Artemis's statement.

Salvatore smiled, one which didn't reach his eyes. "What exactly are you talking about?"

Fox smiled as she picked up her glass of wine and sipped it, she hadn't been aware that Salvatore hadn't been aware that his position was being taken. "The boss has requested that Artie and her gang guard some daughter of one of his friends, while he's visiting. It seems that the poor thing is having father issues and is trying to run away constantly."

"So why didn't he ask me?" Salvatore protested shooting a look at Artemis, who met his anger with a steady gaze.

Fox ignored his pettiness, and waved her omni-tool over Shepard's, "The VKs are also getting a new shipment of military grade assault weapons," she trailed off not bothering to finish the sentence. Artemis knew what was expected.

"Are you sure that's wise?" Kenzzie asked, "Rumor has it that there is a bit of a mutiny in her ranks. Apparently several of Artie's underlings have been vying for top spot. They don't seem to enjoy only getting a lousy five percent of the take." Kenzie smiled as she noticed the hint of discomfort on Artemis's features. "I only bring this up because stealing from the Vice Kings is generally a bad idea. And while Artie has managed to pull of several massive heists from them and has somehow managed to put the blame on other gangs, that was merely because her team was a well-oiled machine. If she screws up, a gang war will affect all of us."

A frown crossed Fox's faces as she turned to look at her young protégé who immediately looked the other way. Shepard had never kept anything this important from her; every last detail was run by her before Artemis made any move. "Who are they?" her voice was barely above a whisper, but a visible shivered ran down Artemis's spine.

She was going to be punished; there was no doubt in her mind. Fox had been embarrassed because she hadn't divulged what seemed to be important information. All because she wanted to deal with the problem herself and show Fox that she was very capable of taking care of herself, she might have ruined the trust that Fox had in her. "Bryan and Kaede, haven't done anything to jeopardize any of the missions. It hasn't been a problem."

"Yet they are still breathing," Salvatore drawled yet again. "There is a reason for a chain of command; however will you going to deal with this situation Fox?"

Artemis gritted her teeth and looked up at Fox, who merely took a sip of her wine in response and glanced at her, "We all have to deal with underlings thinking that they can replace us. I'm quite sure that Artemis will figure out how to deal with the situation in an appropriate way. I can't keep doing everything for her; she's supposed to be responsible."

Kenzie snorted, "You spoil the girl. It's no wonder she's lacking discipline and respect."

Fox frowned at Kenzie, "No one said she wasn't going to be punished for not bringing this to my attention earlier. I just don't see why everyone is making this to be a bigger deal than it is. We've all dealt with little shits attempting to take our place. In fact most of us have gotten this far because we did take someone else's place. And there others who merely kissed some ass to get where they are today, isn't that right Kenzie."

Artemis watched the exchange, wincing. There was no way she was going to get out of this predicament with merely a lecture, not with Kenzie and Salvatore pushing the right buttons.

"Not all of us have to stain our hands red with blood to get what we want. We've come a long way from our cavemen days," Kenzie sniped back.

"I take what I want, with the right amount of force. You merely spread your legs and like a common whore get what you want. I at least have my dignity, I heard that Sid had some pretty kinky tastes. Rumor has it that there might be some old vid."

Kenzie snarled at Fox reaching for her pistol, only to pause when she heard an all too familiar clicking noise. She glanced over at Artemis who had been seated beside Fox, only to notice that Artemis had already drawn her weapon and was pointing it at her. There was a lazy expression on Artemis's face but her eyes showed her intent, she wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger if she felt Fox was being threatened. "If it wasn't for your little shadow, I assure you that you'd be dead."

Fox placed a hand on Artemis's wrist pushing it down and nodded towards the cage, "We can always settle this like men. I give you my word that I won't actually kill you. I'll just make sure you wish you were dead."

Kenzie snorted, she wasn't stupid, the Anvil was Fox's territory. "One day Artemis will not be there to watch your back and I'll be there. Hell I may not have to raise a finger you have more than enough enemies."

Artemis frowned inwardly; she had only become recently aware of how many people wanted Fox dead. Fox had explained then when you got to her level of success there were only more enemies to be had. "I'll always have Fox's back, I'll always be there," Artemis protested forcing Kenzie to acknowledge her.

"You're an idiot if you don't think that she'll make an enemy out of you as well," Kenzie sneered.

"I'm tempted to allow Artemis to redeem herself by pumping a bullet into that skull of yours. Do not threaten me Kenzie; everyone knows what becomes of my enemies."

Salvatore sighed and slammed his hand against the table causing all eyes to lock onto him, "No more fighting, the boss wasn't pleased about losing all those lieutenants Fox. You're still on probation with him. And Kenzie…don't threaten your betters. I will not protect you if Fox decides to throw caution to the wind, like she's bound to do." Kenzie sneered at him in response, while Fox pulled her chair back and stood up.

"Artemis," She called out as she began to walk away pausing to look over at Salvatore studying the man. "See you later tonight?" she asked.

Salvatore glanced over at Artemis, only to see her meet his gaze with her usual vacant look, before turning his attention back to Fox, "Of course."

"Slut," Kenzie muttered under her breath.

"Whore," Fox replied without missing a beat as she left the Anvil, Artemis only a few steps behind her. It wasn't until they were well clear of the Anvil that Fox turned on her silent companion.

"Is there a reason you didn't tell me about Bryan and Kaede?" Fox asked quietly.

Artemis blinked and studied the ground suddenly ashamed of her pride, "Bryan and Kaede are idiots, and mostly all talk. I didn't think that it was something that would interest you."

"You thought you could handle this on your own didn't you? Have we gotten to the point where you believe that you know more than me?"

Artemis immediately shook her head, "I wanted to show you that I wasn't completely useless. I should have come to you and told you what was going on instead of keeping it from you."

Fox was quiet for a moment as if she were mulling over what to do, "Unfortunately due to your disrespect the others, they have called for your head on a platter. Have I spoiled you Artemis? Must I teach you respect the hard way?" When Artemis didn't answer Fox sighed almost dramatically. "Be at the warehouse tomorrow at noon. If you make me look for you, well you know the punishment will be worse." Seeing Artemis give her a single nod, Fox seemed satisfied and turned her back to the woman and headed to her vehicle.

Artemis waited until Fox was gone before slumping against a nearby vehicle. It had been a little over two years since she had to endure the warehouse. The place where she had been tortured for what seemed like days still haunted her memories. And she was older now, Fox wouldn't hold back this time.

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"Is that satisfactory?" Fox turned away from Artemis's naked body to look at Salvatore's face.

Salvatore tore his eyes away from the unconscious teenagers body to look at Fox, "You enjoy this too much," he stated simply as she walked up to where Artemis was hanging to study the damage.

Fox glanced downwards as Salvatore passed her, "I see I'm not the only one who enjoyed myself."

Salvatore ignored the jab and ran his hand down Shepard's ribs, resting the appendage on her hip, "She's beautiful you know. Are you going to control her like you did Bo? If you have no intention of doing that, please allow me to have her."

Fox was quiet and watched Salvatore's hand, "Do not touch her Salvatore. She's off-limits to everyone in the gang. Spread the word, no one is to touch her."

Salvatore pulled his hand away and watched as Fox slowly began to put away her tools, "There is no guarantee that she will love you like Bo loved you, at least not in that way. She already idolizes you Fox; everything she does is done with the intention to keep you happy."

"Bo tried to kill me in the end, and I promised never to make the same mistakes. I will be the only person she needs in her life, the only person she truly loves."

Salvatore frowned and shrugged, the day that Artemis realized she was enslaved would be the end of Fox. He knew that and it was becoming obvious to everyone else as well. Well everyone except Fox, "I'll spread the word."

With that topic done, she and Salvatore unshackled Shepard. With a bit of effort they gently laid her down and Fox immediately waved Salvatore off, as she begun to work on Artemis's body. She applied medi-gels and slowly stitched up the rather deep laceration on Shepard's side. With nothing to numb the muscles, Shepard's body jerked away reflexively and a low moan escaped her lips. Fox glanced up at Artemis's face, but the teen didn't wake up. She immediately went back to her work finishing a few minutes later. Without a word she stood up and grabbed Artemis's pistol and placed it on top of Artemis's neatly folded clothes and placed the package beside Shepard's body. As a finishing touch she placed a bottle of water near Artemis's clothes.

She paused for a moment and glanced down at Artemis's face, without thinking she gently brushed a strand of hair out of the face of her protégé. Bo had done an excellent job teaching her. This was one of the moments that she missed the bastard the most. His last words to her still rang clearly in her head, his warning. There were times when she wondered if it would be simpler to merely eliminate the threat, but in her line of work she needed someone to watch her back. Artemis watched all sides and general saw the threat before it was too late. She was better than Bo had ever been. It was why she couldn't make the same mistake; she wouldn't allow Shepard to find love anywhere else. Bo had been torn between two loyalties; Artemis would never face the same problem. Her world would begin and end with Fox.

Activating her omni-tool she quickly sent Artemis a message, before leaving the warehouse closing the massive doors behind her. Artemis would eventually find her way back to her.

It was nearly an hour later before Artemis eyes flickered open, immediately she felt the fire in her throat and slowly moved her hand upwards to massage it. Fox had made her scream until her voice had given out from the strain. She had then proceeded to mock her, daring her to cry to beg for forgiveness. But she knew better, weakness no matter what was not to be tolerated. Her joints felt sore, her shoulders ached probably due to supporting her entire body weight for an extended amount of time. She let out a small groan and sat up, ignoring the stabbing pain that was coming from her abdomen and the burning sensation that was coming from her side. She had ripped her stitches judging by the blood that had begun to run down her side. "Fuck," she muttered under her breath as she picked up the bottle of water and drank it.

The water may have been warm but she finished drinking it and slowly forced herself to her feet, picking up her clothes. She stumbled a biting onto her lip hard enough to draw blood to keep herself from whimpering. Leaning against the wall of the warehouse for support she slowly slipped on her pants, gritting her teeth and keeping her eyes closed, trying to shake the images from her thoughts.

Finally dressed Artemis immediately checked her omni-tool, and read the message that Fox had sent her. She frowned, even though the message was simple. Fox had given her permission to deal with the situation as she saw fit, so why did she have to go through this. With Salvatore watching, the humiliation had been a bit much and there had been times where Artemis had wanted to beg Fox to make him look the other way. Shame wasn't an emotion that she was used to, and the look that he had been giving her made her feel physically ill. She once again banished the thoughts, suddenly just wishing that she was at home in her bed but she still had a job to do. With some effort she holstered her gun and dragged herself out of the warehouse and kept walking, letting the blood flow properly to her abused legs and arms. Even with the pain Artemis walked to a nearby bus stop, collapsing on the bench as she waited for the bus.

As she waited, her mind flew over what to do about the insubordination. Fox tortured those who dared to stand against her, many of them ended up dead. Salvatore made sure they disappeared never to be found again. Kenzie made sure to ruin their lives anyway she could, before killing them and everyone they cared about. All of those seemed like more work and pointless exercises to scare their remaining subordinates into behaving. Until someone wanted to face their fears again and stopped toeing the imaginary line in the sand, and acted out. It was a vicious cycle, she needed the people who she was responsible for to trust her decisions. Part of the reason she hadn't mentioned Bryan and Kaede to Fox was because she didn't really want to kill them. There were already enough people gunning for the Reds, they didn't need to start killing of their own to help with that. At least that's what Bo had taught her. With a bit of effort she activated her omni-tool she knew what she had to do.

* * *

Artemis limped into what used to be Bo's apartment. Technically it was hers now, a reward from Fox for her role in the massacre. The thought of living in this house made her feel guilty, so she had converted her childhood home into a safe-house. It was also a place where she could meet with her crew, which was why there were currently ten teenagers lounging around the apartment.

"You look like shit boss," One of the teens said loudly causing the rest of them to look at Shepard who are currently leaning against the doorway in attempt to keep herself still standing. "Did the Vice Kings do this to you?"

"No way, have you ever seen anyone stupid enough to go toe to toe with the boss Avery?" Stewart sniped back at Avery. As he said this he immediately went to Artemis's side, in an attempt to help her to a couch.

Gritting her teeth through the pain, she pushed Stewart away refusing his help. With a small grunt of exhaustion mixed with pain, Artemis straightened her back and gracefully walked to the empty seat. With the same amount of effort, she slowly sat down and looked at each member of her crew. A part of her still couldn't believe that Fox had allowed this. "You honestly think that a bunch of VK's could do this to me?" she asked turning her head to Avery. Even through the pain expression that was evident on her face, Artemis's eyes danced with amusement and arrogance.

"So if not the VK's then who? Who did this to you?" Avery pressed; there was a hint of worry in her voice.

Artemis shrugged in response, almost instantaneously regretting the action as her body throbbed in pain, her muscles protesting every movement. She inhaled slowly and counted to three beforne answering Avery's prying. "What you see is what happens when someone, anyone of you does something stupid." Her gaze fell on two teenage boys who suddenly wilted under her intense gaze.

Avery frowned, everyone knew about Artemis's relationship with Fox. But ever since she had joined the Reds a year ago, she had never seen the older woman so much as strike Shepard. "Fox did this to you?" She had heard the rumors of course. Nearly everyone believed that Fox was slowly losing her mind, personally she believed that Fox was simply a psychopath, who got off on causing people pain. Which was why she was confused as to why Artemis worshipped the ground Fox stood on. They were nothing alike, in fact the few times that she had observed Fox's and Artemis's relationship it was evident that Artemis was someone else when Fox was around.

"Fox didn't have a choice," Artemis said defending Fox. "Bryan and Kaede," she paused for a moment as if still debating what their punishment was going to be. "Bryan and Kaede, have been running their mouths to the wrong people. They personally believe that they could run this crew better than I could, isn't that right Bryan?" Artemis flicked her eyes towards the taller of the two teenagers, who ran a hand through his dusty blonde hair. He was the smarter of the two, which wasn't saying much considering that they were in this current predicament.

He scowled as he finally moved his gaze up to meet Artemis's, "It's not fair that you get a bigger percent of the cut than we do, we could do the same job you do, and we should get a bigger cut."

Avery snorted, "Like hell you can, you two dipshits are the lookouts."

Stewart nodded in agreement a look of disgust on his features, "Shitty ones at that, how many times has one of these two morons fallen asleep on the job."

"Look at that your stupidity is one of the few things Avery and Stewart agree on," Artemis added dryly causing the named teenagers to glare at her. She was used to them sniping at each other; both were in a race to be her second in command. "I have no problem with you two plotting to kill me, because everyone in this room knows you will never win."

Bryan snarled at her and immediately reached for his fire weapon, only to hear the rustle of several guns being removed from their holsters. All of them pointed at him and Kaede. He slowly pulled his gun out of the front of his pants and tossed it onto the ground, slowly looking at each member of their small team. "She's fucking wounded right now, we could easily take her. This maybe our only chance," he protested hoping to turn them against Artemis.

The boy beside him began to nod furiously, "Think of the money we could make."

Avery resisted the urge to just shoot them, "Are you fucking stupid? You honestly think that we'd take your side over Artemis's?"

Artemis watched the scene in front of her and sighed, "And on the off chance that you managed to kill me in some freak accident, then what? You think Salvatore would stand for it, any of the lieutenants? Or do you plan to kill all of them as well?" When Bryan looked away, Artemis resisted the urge to groan. They hadn't though this through. Ignoring her muscles protesting Artemis stood up and pulled her shirt up so that everyone in room could see the damage. The bruises, the burn marks, the cuts, the welts. "This is only a fraction, a sliver of what Fox is capable of when she is angry."

Avery winced and looked away, she didn't know how Fox could do this to Artemis. She had no idea why Artemis had taken the full brunt of Fox's wrath either. The woman was truly psychopathic if she could do this to her protégé.

Stewart frowned and holstered his weapon stepping close to Artemis and tracing one of the burns on her side, "Why didn't you?" he asked softly, beating Avery to the chase. When Artemis winced away and looked at him, he continued. "Tell Fox about those two knuckleheads."

Artemis winced as she fell back onto the chair, "Fox gets a cut of the profits, but all of you are part of my crew. You're my responsibility, if I had gone to Fox she would have told me to put in a bullet in their heads, and anyone else who I suspected of being in on it." Artemis nodded towards Bryan and Kaede, "I think they are idiots, and I don't want to gut my team and start over. Being stupid is not something that I think you should die for, so I didn't tell Fox to protect all of you from her. She—"Artemis paused suddenly hearing Johnny's voice in her head. "Fox likes screaming, and she will make sure you scream. Chances are you won't survive the torture. Or you'll beg for death. So I will take Fox's anger, to protect you from her."

Avery turned to stare at Artemis; a wave of respect filled her. She hadn't expected Shepard to go cross Fox for them. She glanced at Stewart he was just as surprised. Maybe there was a chance that Artemis was finally rebelling, and she had no doubt that Artemis knew that action would cost her if Fox ever found out.

Artemis turned to Avery a rare smile flashed across her face, to be replaced the usual grim one. "I need people I can trust. Stewart, Nikola please escort Bryan and Kaede out of my house. You're done working for me."

"You're kicking us out?" Kaede asked horror in his voice and on his face.

"You don't have the power to strip us of our flags," Bryan sneered, ignoring the pleading look that Kaede was giving him. "You're just Fox's bitch, one who she clearly whips. Does she fuck you too? The rumor is you're her fucking slut. Seen that bitch looking at you too, like she wants to taste some of your sweet little-"

Stewart immediately decked the older boy, causing him to fall backwards. With little hesitation he began to kick and stomp at Bryan, "Insolent little shit, learn your place."

Artemis raised her hand, forcing Stewart to pull back after giving out one last opportunistic kick. "No one is making you drop your flags," Artemis's voice was barely above a whisper, a look of annoyance crossed her face. "I don't care if you want to go work for Kenzie, or Salvatore you're just not running with us anymore. Find someone else to put up with your bullshit. Now please Stewart remove the trash." She watched Stewart roughly picking up Bryan, "If you see either of them skulking around please tell me. You all have my permission to shoot on site," she announced to her crew.

Shepard studied the remaining teenagers resting her eyes on Avery, "Can you and Stewart get along well enough to go case a place while I recover? It's the one in the message I sent you."

Avery nodded trying to keep a positive look on her face. She hated the kiss-ass, but with Artemis down for the count it was probably the best time to prove to her that she could be a second in command. "I'll behave, just this once," Avery shot a dazzling smile at Artemis who gave her a weak smile back before she finally succumbed to sleep. Avery immediately turned back to the crew, quickly taking charge before Stewart could come back and challenge her command. "Let's give the boss some space people."


End file.
